A few days ago, scientists at CERN successfully completed another data collection within the scientific programme on the search for dark matter in the NA64 Experiment. Researchers conducted runs with the electron and muon secondary beams of the SPS Accelerator.

From 10 May to 5 July, they registered 5·10¹¹ electrons with an energy of 100 GeV and 1.6·10¹⁰ positrons with an energy of 70 GeV at the H4 beamline. The obtained results increased the total statistics collected in the experiment by one and a half times. From 12 July to 9 August, scientists registered 1.5·10¹¹ events with the muon beam at the M2 beamline, which is 8 times higher than last year’s results. A welcome addition to the success was the news that citations of the Collaboration’s results exceeded 1,000.

NA64 Facility at muon (on the left) and electron (on the right) beamlines of SPS CERN

The project’s experimental programme involves taking the maximum possible statistics – up to 5 10¹² electrons and 10¹² muons before the shutdown of CERN’s accelerators. Work will be continued after the upgrade of accelerators to collect 10¹³ events with both beams.

The Collaboration members continue analysing the data and expect obtaining new exciting results.

The NA64 research program was launched at CERN in 2016. In 2020, JINR joined the project collaboration. Employees of the Joint Institute have developed and created coordinate detectors for NA64 based on thin-walled drift straw tubes. In addition, a JINR group in the experiment provides support for the DAQ data collection system and online monitoring of the straw camera, conducts theoretical research and computer modelling in the experiment, collects and analyses data.