Results and status from the HARP and MIPP hadron production experiments.” J.Phys.Conf.Ser

Abstract. Recent results and status from the HARP and MIPP hadron production experiments are reviewed. After a brief description of the experimental setups and the large amounts of data collected with those, we emphasize the relevance of precision hadron production measurements for neutrino physics. Three types of neutrino sources are discussed: conventional accelerator-based neutrino beams, advanced neutrino sources, and atmospheric neutrinos. We conclude by discussing prospects from additional hadron production measurements to be expected in the near future. 1. The experiments HARP and MIPP are recent experiments aiming to correct the lack of precision hadron production data. The physics of strongly interacting matter probed in these experiments is not only interesting per se, but is also a crucial input to neutrino physics experiments. Compared to past hadron production experiments, HARP and MIPP combine large phase space coverage and excellent track reconstruction and particle identification capabilities (discussed in this Section), together with high-statistics samples collected for a variety of beam particle types, beam momenta, nuclear target materials, and target interaction lengths (see Sec. 2)