Advancing global tuning of hadronic interaction models
"An article in Nature Reviews Physics, with a contribution from LIP, presents a unified approach to tuning hadronic interaction models using accelerator and astroparticle data"
A review article entitled "Global tuning of hadronic interaction models with accelerator-based and astroparticle data" has been published in Nature Reviews Physics. The paper is co-authored by Ruben Conceição, researcher at LIP and Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), together with L. Cazon and F. Riehn, both former members of the LIP–Pierre Auger Observatory group.
The article addresses a central challenge in high-energy physics simulations: achieving a consistent description of hadronic interactions across accelerator-based experiments and astroparticle observatories. While Monte Carlo event generators are routinely tuned using collider data, they often do not fully reproduce key observables in cosmic-ray and neutrino measurements, highlighting the need for a unified approach.
Bringing together expertise from particle physics and astroparticle physics, the review presents a roadmap towards global tuning of hadronic interaction models, combining complementary constraints from accelerators and extensive air shower data. This strategy is expected to reduce theoretical uncertainties and strengthen the interpretation of high-energy phenomena over an unprecedented range of energies.
This publication reflects LIP's continued contribution to research at the interface of particle physics and astroparticle physics, supporting the development of tools that are essential for current and future experiments.