The NA58 experiment, or COMPASS (Common Muon and Proton Apparatus for Structure and Spectroscopy) is a fixed-target particle physics experiment at the Super Proton Synchrotron, a particle accelerator at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). It is a two-level magnetic spectrometer with calorimeters in both levels and particle identification in the first level.
There are several research projects underway at COMPASS:
- understanding the contribution of the gluons to the spin of the proton and other nuclei,
- production and investigation of exotic mesons,
- production and investigation of charmed mesons.
The COMPASS-Group of the Institute for Nuclear Physics at Mainz supervises the CEDAR-Detectors and the Trigger System of the COMPASS-Experiment collaboration with a working group of the Physical Institute in Bonn.