Joint JINR Seminar

Date and Time: Thursday, 20 April 2023, at 11:00 AM

Venue: BLTP Conference Hall, Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, online on Zoom

Information about the seminar

Link to join the seminar on Zoom

Seminar topic: “Search for light dark matter in NA64 experiment”

Speaker: Sergei Gninenko (Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences)

Abstract:

The origin of dark matter in the Universe is the most interesting question of modern particle physics. An attractive class of models considers the possibility of the existence of light dark matter with a mass < O(1) GeV, which interacts with ordinary matter through a new weak interaction additional to gravity.

The NA64 experiment at the electron beam of the SPS (Super Proton Synchrotron) CERN is one of the world’s leading experiments designed for a sensitive search for new hypothetical particles, including light dark matter. We will present the theoretical motivation, experimental setup, main experimental challenges, and how NA64 addresses these challenges, as well as the latest results obtained in the 2022 run. In addition, the search for new particles and physics explaining the (g-2) muon anomaly will be discussed, along with the results of the search for a 17 MeV boson that can explain the ATOMKI collaboration anomaly. Finally, the programme for searching for hypothetical particles predominantly interacting with muons or quarks at the SPS muon and hadron beams will be briefly outlined.