LHCb can be seen as the fixed-target experiment operating at the highest energy ever reached, thanks to its capability, unique among the experiments at the LHC, to collide the TeV-energy LHC beams on an internal gas target. Owing to its forward geometry, the detector is ideally suited to observe such collisions, exploiting the excellent vertexing, tracking and particle identification capabilities.
This setup offers unique possibilities for production measurements needed to improve the interpretation of cosmic ray observations in the space or through extensive atmospheric showers.
In particular, collisions of primary cosmic rays with the interstellar medium can be reproduced using a helium target, at an energy scale relevant for the measurements of the antimatter content in cosmic rays ongoing at space payloads like AMS-02.
We review the latest results from this program and the near-future
prospects with the upgraded gas target device SMOG2.