The MACRO experiment and its legacy: more than three decades of astroparticle and neutrino physics

Session

MACRO Science, then and now

27 Jun 2025, 10:20

LNGS and GSSI

Conveners

MACRO Science, then and now: Magnetic Monopoles

• Erik Katsavounidis (MIT)
• Laura Patrizii (INFN Bologna)

MACRO Science, then and now: Cosmic Rays

• Daniele Martello (Università del Salento and INFN)
• Ivan De Mitri (Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI) and INFN)

MACRO Science, then and now: Neutrinos Astronomies

• Marco Grassi (INFN Pisa)

MACRO Science, then and now: Neutrino Oscillations

• Ed Kearns (Boston University)
• Maurizio Spurio (University of Bologna and INFN)

Contribution list Timetable

59. Back to the pre-MACRO days: Theory and Experiment

Steven Ahlen (Boston University)

27/06/2025, 10:20

I will review the theoretical and experimental landscape from 1974 to 1989 regarding the Grand Unified Theory magnetic monopole questions that have since been addressed by MACRO. The most important of these is the broad velocity range over which flux limits have been set. The presentation will include anecdotes, recollections of colorful characters, and the joys of living in Italy.

60. Magnetic Monopole searches at the time of MACRO and beyond

Ivan De Mitri (Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI) and INFN)

27/06/2025, 10:40

The experimental searches for GUT magnetic monopoles will be briefly reviewd starting with MACRO times and then extending to running expoeriments.

62. Cosmic ray physics at LNGS: a historical journey

Sergio Petrera (GSSI, L'Aquila)

27/06/2025, 11:40

Two unexpected experimental outcomes challenged existing theories and strongly impacted the design of initial experiments at LNGS. The main outcomes in the field of Cosmic Ray Physics will be reviewed.

63. Cosmic rays from deep underground to space

Stephane Coutu (Penn State University)

27/06/2025, 12:00

Measurements of cosmic rays are made using their atmospheric secondary products from deep underground or over an extended area at the ground surface, but also with instruments flown by balloons and rockets to catch the primary particles directly. The present generation of direct measurements now overlap in energy those made with secondary detection, providing a fertile cross calibration and...

64. The birth of Neutrino Astronomy

Lawrence Sulak (Physics Dept, Boston University)

28/06/2025, 09:00

Cosmological hypotheses and oracular dreams of grand-unification foretold that neutrinos might weigh a little bit, that those elusive particles could blow up stars, and that active galactic nuclei could power hyper-energetic neutrinos. Testing those theories demanded new technologies, optimized to search for rare interactions. Those theories led to the invention of MACRO and other gigantic...

65. MACRO and the early days of the supernova warning systems

Kate Scholberg (Duke University)

28/06/2025, 09:20

I will reminisce about PHRASE and ERP and SkyTel beepers and the pre-SNEWS days of gravitational collapse early warnings, and discuss the evolution to the current day.

66. The relevance of MACRO results for hih energy neutrino telescopes

Maurizio Spurio (University of Bologna and INFN)

28/06/2025, 09:40

The MACRO detector was one of the largest experiments pioneering high energy astrophysics with neutrinos.

The successive generation of detectors in the Mediterranean Sea (ANTARES and KM3NeT) inherited not only the experimental techniques and part of the simulation codes for the neutrino signal, but also the information needed to describe and characterize the background of atmospheric...

67. The early evidences for atmospheric neutrino oscillations

Neil Pignatano (RTX (ret.), ex-Caltech)

28/06/2025, 11:10

When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. – Sherlock Holmes
The earliest data collected by MACRO was analyzed for upward going muons, indicative of neutrino interactions in the ground a few meters below the detector. The sources of these neutrinos were expected to be from pion decay due to cosmic ray interactions, and, at much lower...

68. MACRO and neutrino oscillations

Francesco Ronga (INFN Frascati)

28/06/2025, 11:30