Yes, CERN is involved in the search for dark photons. CERN’s ATLAS Experiment is looking for signs of dark matter using light particles (photons). The ATLAS Collaboration has been searching for signs of dark photons in data collected by the experiment.
CERN is also involved in the following dark photon searches:
- FASER: The ForwArd Search ExpeRiment (FASER) searches for dark photons at the LHC.
- LHCb: The LHCb experiment at CERN is searching for dark photons.
- NA64: An experiment at CERN that scatters 100 GeV electrons off a fixed target.
Dark photons are exotic particles with an average lifetime of more than a tenth of a billionth of a second
Dark photons are hypothetical particles that could be the force carriers that make up dark matter. Dark matter is a mysterious substance that may make up about 85% of the matter in the universe.
Dark photons are similar to photons of electromagnetism, but have mass. They have a mass that is extremely small, twenty orders of magnitude less than that of an electron.
Dark photons could account for observations that cannot be explained by the Standard Model of particle physics. They could also explain high-energy scattering data.
Dark photons are also neutral under Standard Model interactions. They can be detected because of their kinetic mixing with visible photons.
Dark photons could also interact with the Standard Model if some fermions are charged under the new abelian group.
Some other properties of dark photons include:
- Mass: Dark photons have a very small mass.
- Kinetic mixing: Dark photons can couple weakly to electrically charged particles through kinetic mixing with ordinary photons.
- Transformation: Dark photons and photons could transform into each other at specific intervals.
- Production: Dark photons could be produced in stellar interiors.
The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is an intergovernmental organization that operates the world’s largest particle physics laboratory. CERN is located in Meyrin, a suburb of Geneva, on the border of France and Switzerland
CERN was founded in 1953 to provide a platform for European states to cooperate on nuclear and particle physics for peaceful purposes. CERN’s research focuses on fundamental physics, including finding out what the universe is made of and how it works.
CERN has 23 member states, including:
Croatia, India, Latvia, Lithuania, Pakistan, Türkiye, Ukraine.
CERN’s CEO is Fabiola Gianotti.
CERN is important because it conducts experiments to understand the universe’s fundamental structure and laws. CERN uses some of the world’s most advanced equipment, including the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). CERN’s research facilities include: Antiproton Decelerator, ISOLDE facility.
CERN has also:
- Invented the World Wide Web
- Discovered the Higgs boson
CERN’s mission is to:
- Advance the boundaries of human knowledge
- Unite people from all over the world
- Push the frontiers of science and technology
Universe discoveries 