The NOMAD experiment at the CERN SPS

The NOMAD experiment is a short base-line search for v(mu) - v(tau) oscillations in the CERN neutrino beam. The v(tau)'s are searched for through their charged current interactions followed by the observation of the resulting tau(-) through its electronic, muonic or hadronic decays. These decays are recognized using kinematical criteria necessitating the use of a light target which enables the reconstruction of individual particles produced in the neutrino interactions. This paper describes the various components of the NOMAD detector: the target and muon drift chambers, the electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters, the preshower and transition radiation detectors and the veto and trigger scintillation counters. The beam and data acquisition system are also described. The quality of the reconstruction and individual particles is demonstrated through the ability of NOMAD to observe K-s(o)'s, Lambda(o)'s and pi(0)s. Finally, the observation of tau(-) through its electronic decay being one of the most promising channels in the search, the identification of electrons in NOMAD is discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.