29 research outputs found
Measurement of the very rare decay
The decay K+→π+νν¯
, with a very precisely predicted branching ratio of less than 10−10
,
is among the best processes to reveal indirect effects of new physics.
The NA62 experiment at CERN SPS is designed to study the K+→π+νν¯
decay and to measure its branching ratio using a decay-in-flight technique.
NA62 took data in 2016, 2017 and 2018, reaching the sensitivity of the Standard Model
for the K+→π+νν¯
decay by the analysis of the 2016 and 2017 data,
and providing the most precise measurement of the branching ratio to date
by the analysis of the 2018 data.
This measurement is also used to set limits on BR(K+→π+X
), where X
is a scalar
or pseudo-scalar particle.
The final result of the BR(K+→π+νν¯
) measurement and its interpretation in terms
of the K+→π+X
decay from the analysis of the full 2016-2018 data set is presented, and future plans and prospects are reviewed
Search for heavy neutral lepton production in decays
A search for heavy neutral lepton production in decays using a data sample collected with a minimum bias trigger by the NA62 experiment at CERN in 2015 is reported. Upper limits at the to level are established on the elements of the extended neutrino mixing matrix () for heavy neutral lepton mass in the range . This improves on the results from previous production searches in decays, setting more stringent limits and extending the mass range.A search for heavy neutral lepton production in K+ decays using a data sample collected with a minimum bias trigger by the NA62 experiment at CERN in 2015 is reported. Upper limits at the 10−7 to 10−6 level are established on the elements of the extended neutrino mixing matrix |Ue4|2 and |Uμ4|2 for heavy neutral lepton mass in the ranges 170–448 MeV/ c2 and 250–373 MeV/ c2 , respectively. This improves on the previous limits from HNL production searches over the whole mass range considered for |Ue4|2 , and above 300 MeV/ c2 for |Uμ4|2
First search for using the decay-in-flight technique
International audienceThe NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS reports the first search for K+→π+νν¯ using the decay-in-flight technique, based on a sample of 1.21×1011 K+ decays collected in 2016. The single event sensitivity is 3.15×10−10 , corresponding to 0.267 Standard Model events. One signal candidate is observed while the expected background is 0.152 events. This leads to an upper limit of 14×10−10 on the K+→π+νν¯ branching ratio at 95% CL
Searches for lepton number violating decays
Searches for lepton number violating and decays have been performed using the complete dataset collected by the NA62 experiment at CERN in 2016-2018. Upper limits of and are obtained on the decay branching fractions at 90% confidence level. The former result improves the limit by a factor of four over the previous best limit, while the latter result represents the first limit on the decay rate.Searches for lepton number violating K+→π−e+e+ and K+→π−π0e+e+ decays have been performed using the complete dataset collected by the NA62 experiment at CERN in 2016–2018. Upper limits of 5.3×10−11 and 8.5×10−10 are obtained on the decay branching fractions at 90% confidence level. The former result improves by a factor of four over the previous best limit, while the latter result represents the first limit on the K+→π−π0e+e+ decay rate.Searches for lepton number violating and decays have been performed using the complete dataset collected by the NA62 experiment at CERN in 2016-2018. Upper limits of and are obtained on the decay branching fractions at 90% confidence level. The former result improves by a factor of four over the previous best limit, while the latter result represents the first limit on the decay rate
A search for the decay
A search for the decay, forbidden within the Standard Model by either lepton number or lepton flavour conservation depending on the flavour of the emitted neutrino, has been performed using the dataset collected by the NA62 experiment at CERN in 2016--2018. An upper limit of is obtained for the decay branching fraction at 90% CL, improving by a factor of 250 over the previous search
Measurement of the very rare decay
The NA62 experiment reports the branching ratio measurement BR at 68% CL, based on the observation of 20 signal candidates with an expected background of 7.0 events from the total data sample collected at the CERN SPS during 2016-2018. This provides evidence for the very rare decay, observed with a significance of 3.4. The experiment achieves a single event sensitivity of , corresponding to 10.0 events assuming the Standard Model branching ratio of . This measurement is also used to set limits on BR(), where is a scalar or pseudo-scalar particle. Details are given of the analysis of the 2018 data sample, which corresponds to about 80% of the total data sample
Search for decays to invisible particles
The NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS reports a study of a sample of tagged mesons from , searching for the decay of the to invisible particles. No signal is observed in excess of the expected background fluctuations. An upper limit of is set on the branching ratio at 90% confidence level, improving on previous results by a factor of 60. This result can also be interpreted as a model-independent upper limit on the branching ratio for the decay where is a particle escaping detection with mass in the range GeV/ and rest lifetime greater than 100 ps. Model- dependent upper limits are obtained assuming to be an axion-like particle with dominant fermion couplings or a dark scalar mixing with the Standard Model Higgs.The NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS reports a study of a sample of tagged mesons from , searching for the decay of the to invisible particles. No signal is observed in excess of the expected background fluctuations. An upper limit of is set on the branching ratio at 90% confidence level, improving on previous results by a factor of 60. This result can also be interpreted as a model-independent upper limit on the branching ratio for the decay , where is a particle escaping detection with mass in the range 0.110-0.155 GeV and rest lifetime greater than 100 ps. Model-dependent upper limits are obtained assuming to be an axion-like particle with dominant fermion couplings or a dark scalar mixing with the Standard Model Higgs boson
A search for the decay
A search for the decay, forbidden within the Standard Model by either lepton number or lepton flavour conservation depending on the flavour of the emitted neutrino, has been performed using the dataset collected by the NA62 experiment at CERN in 2016--2018. An upper limit of is obtained for the decay branching fraction at 90% CL, improving by a factor of 250 over the previous search
Search for lepton number and flavour violation in and decays
Searches for the lepton number violating decay and the lepton flavour violating and decays are reported using data collected by the NA62 experiment at CERN in 20172018. No evidence for these decays is found and upper limits of the branching ratios are obtained at 90% confidence level: B() K^{+} \rightarrow \pi^{-} \mu^{+} e^{+}K^{+} \rightarrow \pi^{+} \mu^{-} e^{+}\pi^{0} \rightarrow \mu^{-} e^{+}20172018\mathcal{B}(K^{+}\rightarrow\pi^{-}\mu^{+}e^{+})<4.2\times 10^{-11}\mathcal{B}(K^{+}\rightarrow\pi^{+}\mu^{-}e^{+})<6.6\times10^{-11}\mathcal{B}(\pi^{0}\rightarrow\mu^{-}e^{+})<3.2\times 10^{-10}$. These results improve by one order of magnitude over previous results for these decay modes