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Observing neutrinos at CMS and ATLAS with a gaseous fixed target concept

Alfonso Garcia Soto1 and Jeremi Niedziela2,3

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 012010 – Published 10 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/rv6s-9wzt

Abstract

The SHIFT@LHC proposal introduced a novel shifted gaseous fixed-target concept at the LHC to search for exotic particles. In this article, we explore an entirely different physics opportunity enabled by this setup: the observation of neutrinos in general-purpose LHC detectors. Using simulations of proton-gas collisions, hadron propagation, and neutrino interactions, we estimate that O(104) muon-neutrino and O(103) electron-neutrino interactions, with energies from 20 GeV to 1 TeV, would occur in the CMS and ATLAS detectors with 1% of the LHC Run-4 integrated luminosity (≈4×1025 protons on target). This unique configuration provides access to hadron production in the pseudorapidity range 5<η<8, complementary to existing LHC detectors. If realized, this would mark the first detection of neutrinos in a hadron collider detector, demonstrating the feasibility of such measurements in this experimental environment.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 012010– Published 10 July, 2026
  • Received 24 October 2025
  • Accepted 8 June 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

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