The performance of the LHCf detector for hadronic showers

The Large Hadron Collider forward (LHCf) experiment has been designed to use the LHC to benchmark the hadronic interaction models used in cosmic-ray physics. The LHCf experiment measures neutral particles emitted in the very forward region of LHC collisions. In this paper, the performances of the LHCf detectors for hadronic showers was studied with MC simulations and beam tests. The detection efficiency for neutrons is from 60% to 70% above 500 GeV. The energy resolutions are about 40% and the position resolution is 0.1 to 1.3mm depend on the incident energy for neutrons. The energy scale determined by the MC simulations and the validity of the MC simulations were examined using 350 GeV proton beams at the CERN-SPS.