The NA62 Experiment at CERN

TL;DR

The NA62 experiment at CERN aims to precisely measure the rare kaon decay $K^+ ightarrow \pi^+ u ar{ u}$ to test the Standard Model and probe for new physics, with initial results from pilot data.

Contribution

This paper details the experimental setup and initial data analysis of the NA62 experiment, focusing on measuring the rare decay with high precision.

Findings

Successful launch of the NA62 experiment in October 2014.

Initial pilot run data collected and analyzed.

Experimental setup designed for high-precision measurement of rare decay.

Abstract

The main physics goal of the NA62 experiment at CERN is to precisely measure the branching ratio of the kaon rare decay $K^+\rightarrow \pi^+ \nu \bar\nu$. This decay is strongly suppressed in the Standard Model and its branching ratio is theoretically calculated with high accuracy. The NA62 experiment is designed to measure this decay rate with an uncertainty better than 10\%. The measurement can be a good probe of new physics phenomena, which can alter the SM decay rate. The NA62 experiment has been successfully launched in October 2014. In this document, after an introduction to the theoretical framework, the NA62 experimental setup is described and a first look at the pilot run data is reported.