arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to B. L. Roberts.
We discuss the prospects for improving the precision on the hadronic corrections to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, and the plans of the Muon $g-2$ Theory Initiative to update the Standard Model prediction.
The Muon $g-2$ Experiment at Fermilab uses a gaseous straw tracking detector to make detailed measurements of the stored muon beam profile, which are essential for the experiment to achieve its uncertainty goals. Positrons from muon decays spiral inward and pass through the tracking detector before striking an electromagnetic calorimeter. The tracking detector is therefore located inside the vacuum chamber in a region where the magnetic field is large and non-uniform. As such, the tracking detector must have a low leak rate to maintain a high-quality vacuum, must be non-magnetic so as not to perturb the magnetic field and, to minimize energy loss, must have a low radiation length. The performance of the tracking detector has met or surpassed the design requirements, with adequate electronic noise levels, an average straw hit resolution of $(110 \pm 20) \,μ$m, a detection efficiency of 97% or higher, and no performance degradation or signs of aging. The tracking detector's measurements result in an otherwise unachievable understanding of the muon's beam motion, particularly at early times in the experiment's measurement period when there are a significantly greater number of muons decaying. This is vital to the statistical power of the experiment, as well as facilitating the precise extraction of several systematic corrections and uncertainties. This paper describes the design, construction, testing, commissioning, and performance of the tracking detector.
We describe the installation, commissioning, and characterization of the new injection kicker system in the Muon $g-2$ Experiment (E989) at Fermilab, which makes a precision measurement of the muon magnetic anomaly. Three Blumlein pulsers drive each of the 1.27-m-long non-ferric kicker magnets, which reside in a storage ring vacuum (SRV) that is subjected to a 1.45 T magnetic field. The new system has been redesigned relative to Muon $g-2$'s predecessor experiment, and we present those details in this manuscript.
We review the present status of the Standard Model calculation of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. This is performed in a perturbative expansion in the fine-structure constant $α$ and is broken down into pure QED, electroweak, and hadronic contributions. The pure QED contribution is by far the largest and has been evaluated up to and including $\mathcal{O}(α^5)$ with negligible numerical uncertainty. The electroweak contribution is suppressed by $(m_μ/M_W)^2$ and only shows up at the level of the seventh significant digit. It has been evaluated up to two loops and is known to better than one percent. Hadronic contributions are the most difficult to calculate and are responsible for almost all of the theoretical uncertainty. The leading hadronic contribution appears at $\mathcal{O}(α^2)$ and is due to hadronic vacuum polarization, whereas at $\mathcal{O}(α^3)$ the hadronic light-by-light scattering contribution appears. Given the low characteristic scale of this observable, these contributions have to be calculated with nonperturbative methods, in particular, dispersion relations and the lattice approach to QCD. The largest part of this review is dedicated to a detailed account of recent efforts to improve the calculation of these two contributions with either a data-driven, dispersive approach, or a first-principle, lattice-QCD approach. The final result reads $a_μ^\text{SM}=116\,591\,810(43)\times 10^{-11}$ and is smaller than the Brookhaven measurement by 3.7$σ$. The experimental uncertainty will soon be reduced by up to a factor four by the new experiment currently running at Fermilab, and also by the future J-PARC experiment. This and the prospects to further reduce the theoretical uncertainty in the near future-which are also discussed here-make this quantity one of the most promising places to look for evidence of new physics.
The Muon (g-2) Experiment, E989 at Fermilab, will measure the muon anomalous magnetic moment a factor-of-four more precisely than was done in E821 at the Brookhaven National Laboratory AGS. The E821 result appears to be greater than the Standard-Model prediction by more than three standard deviations. When combined with expected improvement in the Standard-Model hadronic contributions, E989 should be able to determine definitively whether or not the E821 result is evidence for physics beyond the Standard Model. After a review of the physics motivation and the basic technique, which will use the muon storage ring built at BNL and now relocated to Fermilab, the design of the new experiment is presented. This document was created in partial fulfillment of the requirements necessary to obtain DOE CD-2/3 approval.
The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will search for charged lepton flavor violation via the coherent conversion process mu- N --> e- N with a sensitivity approximately four orders of magnitude better than the current world's best limits for this process. The experiment's sensitivity offers discovery potential over a wide array of new physics models and probes mass scales well beyond the reach of the LHC. We describe herein the preliminary design of the proposed Mu2e experiment. This document was created in partial fulfillment of the requirements necessary to obtain DOE CD-2 approval.
This is the report of the Intensity Frontier Charged Lepton Working Group of the 2013 Community Summer Study "Snowmass on the Mississippi", summarizing the current status and future experimental opportunities in muon and tau lepton studies and their sensitivity to new physics. These include searches for charged lepton flavor violation, measurements of magnetic and electric dipole moments, and precision measurements of the decay spectrum and parity-violating asymmetries.
We present a detailed report of the method, setup, analysis and results of a precision measurement of the positive muon lifetime. The experiment was conducted at the Paul Scherrer Institute using a time-structured, nearly 100%-polarized, surface muon beam and a segmented, fast-timing, plastic scintillator array. The measurement employed two target arrangements; a magnetized ferromagnetic target with a ~4 kG internal magnetic field and a crystal quartz target in a 130 G external magnetic field. Approximately 1.6 x 10^{12} positrons were accumulated and together the data yield a muon lifetime of tau_{mu}(MuLan) = 2196980.3(2.2) ps (1.0 ppm), thirty times more precise than previous generations of lifetime experiments. The lifetime measurement yields the most accurate value of the Fermi constant G_F (MuLan) = 1.1663787(6) x 10^{-5} GeV^{-2} (0.5 ppm). It also enables new precision studies of weak interactions via lifetime measurements of muonic atoms.
We report a measurement of the positive muon lifetime to a precision of 1.0 parts per million (ppm); it is the most precise particle lifetime ever measured. The experiment used a time-structured, low-energy muon beam and a segmented plastic scintillator array to record more than 2 x 10^{12} decays. Two different stopping target configurations were employed in independent data-taking periods. The combined results give tau_{mu^+}(MuLan) = 2196980.3(2.2) ps, more than 15 times as precise as any previous experiment. The muon lifetime gives the most precise value for the Fermi constant: G_F(MuLan) = 1.1663788 (7) x 10^-5 GeV^-2 (0.6 ppm). It is also used to extract the mu^-p singlet capture rate, which determines the proton's weak induced pseudoscalar coupling g_P.
Three independent searches for an electric dipole moment (EDM) of the positive and negative muons have been performed, using spin precession data from the muon g-2 storage ring at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Details on the experimental apparatus and the three analyses are presented. Since the individual results on the positive and negative muon, as well as the combined result, d=-0.1(0.9)E-19 e-cm, are all consistent with zero, we set a new muon EDM limit, |d| < 1.9E-19 e-cm (95% C.L.). This represents a factor of 5 improvement over the previous best limit on the muon EDM.
The mean life of the positive muon has been measured to a precision of 11 ppm using a low-energy, pulsed muon beam stopped in a ferromagnetic target, which was surrounded by a scintillator detector array. The result, tau_mu = 2.197013(24) us, is in excellent agreement with the previous world average. The new world average tau_mu = 2.197019(21) us determines the Fermi constant G_F = 1.166371(6) x 10^-5 GeV^-2 (5 ppm). Additionally, the precision measurement of the positive muon lifetime is needed to determine the nucleon pseudoscalar coupling g_P.
We present a measurement of the pion form factor based on e+e- annihilation data from the CMD-2 detector in the energy range 0.6<sqrt(s)<1.0 GeV with a systematic uncertainty of 0.8%. A data sample is five times larger than that used in our previous measurement.
The cross section of the process e+e- -> pi+pi- has been measured at the CMD-2 detector in the 370-520 MeV center-of-mass (c.m.) energy range. A systematic uncertainty of the measurement is 0.7 %. Using all CMD-2 data on the pion form factor, the pion electromagnetic radius was calculated. The cross section of muon pair production was also determined.
A new highly sensitive method of looking for electric dipole moments of charged particles in storage rings is described. The major systematic errors inherent in the method are addressed and ways to minimize them are suggested. It seems possible to measure the muon EDM to levels that test speculative theories beyond the standard model.
In this paper a new method is presented for particles in storage rings which could reach a statistical sensitivity of 10**(-27) e cm for the deuteron EDM. This implies an improvement of two orders of magnitude over the present best limits on the T-odd nuclear forces ksi parameter.
The updated results of the precise measurements of the processes e+e-->rho->pi+pi-, e+e-->omega->pi+pi-pi0 and e+e-->phi->KLKS performed by the CMD-2 collaboration are presented. The update appeared necessary due an overestimate of the integrated luminosity in previous analyses.
We are proposing a new method to carry out a dedicated search for a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of the muon with a sensitivity at a level of 10^{-24} e cm. The experimental design exploits the strong motional electric field sensed by relativistic particles in a magnetic storage ring. As a key feature, a novel technique has been invented in which the g-2 precession is compensated with radial electric field. This technique will benefit greatly when the intense muon sources advocated by the developers of the muon storage rings and the muon colliders become available.