arXiv subjects

L. Gerritzen

Publications and source records attributed to L. Gerritzen.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

New limit on the \mu+->e+\gamma decay with the MEG II experiment

This letter reports the result of the search for the decay \mu+->e+\gamma undertaken at the Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland with the MEG II experiment using the data collected in the 2021- 2022 physics runs. The sensitivity of this search is 2.2x10-13, a factor of 2.4 better than that of the full MEG dataset and obtained in a data taking period of about one fourth that of MEG, thanks to the superior performances of the new detector. The result is consistent with the expected background, yielding an upper limit on the branching ratio of B(\mu+->e+\gamma)<1.5 x 10-13 (90 % C.L.). Additional improvements are expected with the data collected during the years 2023-2024. The data-taking will continue in the coming years.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2025

European Strategy for Particle Physics Update -- PIONEER: a next generation rare pion decay experiment

PIONEER is a rapidly developing effort aimed to perform a pristine test of lepton flavour universality (LFU) and of the unitarity of the first row of the CKM matrix by significantly improving the measurements of rare decays of the charged pion. In Phase I, PIONEER aims to measure the charged-pion branching ratio to electrons vs.\ muons $R_{e/\mu}$ to 1 part in $10^4$, improving the current experimental result $R_{e/\mu}\,\text{(exp)} =1.2327(23)\times10^{-4}$ by a factor of 15. This precision on $R_{e/\mu}$ will match the theoretical accuracy of the SM prediction allowing for a test of LFU at an unprecedented level, probing non-SM explanations of LFU violation through sensitivity to quantum effects of new particles up to the PeV mass scale. Phase II and III will aim to improve the experimental precision of the branching ratio of pion beta decay, $\pi^+\to \pi^0 e^+ \nu (\gamma)$, currently at $1.036(6)\times10^{-8}$, by a factor of three and six, respectively. The improved measurements will be used to extract $V_{ud}$ in a theoretically pristine manner. The ultimate precision of $V_{ud}$ is expected to reach the 0.05\,\% level, allowing for a stringent test of CKM unitarity. The PIONEER experiment will also improve the experimental limits by an order of magnitude or more on a host of exotic decays that probe the effects of heavy neutrinos and dark sector physics. This input to the 2026 update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics Strategy describes the physics motivation and the conceptual design of the PIONEER experiment, and is prepared based on the PIONEER proposal submitted to and approved with high priority by the PSI program advisory committee (PAC). Using intense pion beams, and state-of-the-art instrumentation and computational resources, the PIONEER experiment is aiming to begin data taking by the end of this decade.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2024

Search for the X17 particle in $^{7}\mathrm{Li}(\mathrm{p},\mathrm{e}^+ \mathrm{e}^{-}) ^{8}\mathrm{Be}$ processes with the MEG II detector

The observation of a resonance structure in the opening angle of the electron-positron pairs in the $^{7}$Li(p,\ee) $^{8}$Be reaction was claimed and interpreted as the production and subsequent decay of a hypothetical particle (X17). Similar excesses, consistent with this particle, were later observed in processes involving $^{4}$He and $^{12}$C nuclei with the same experimental technique. The MEG II apparatus at PSI, designed to search for the $\mu^+ \rightarrow \mathrm{e}^+ \gamma$ decay, can be exploited to investigate the existence of this particle and study its nature. Protons from a Cockroft-Walton accelerator, with an energy up to 1.1 MeV, were delivered on a dedicated Li-based target. The $\gamma$ and the e$^{+}$e$^{-}$ pair emerging from the $^8\mathrm{Be}^*$ transitions were studied with calorimeters and a spectrometer, featuring a broader angular acceptance than previous experiments. We present in this paper the analysis of a four-week data-taking in 2023 with a beam energy of 1080 keV, resulting in the excitation of two different resonances with Q-value \SI{17.6}{\mega\electronvolt} and \SI{18.1}{\mega\electronvolt}. No significant signal was found, and limits at \SI{90}{\percent} C.L. on the branching ratios (relative to the $\gamma$ emission) of the two resonances to X17 were set, $R_{17.6} < 1.8 \times 10^{-6} $ and $R_{18.1} < 1.2 \times 10^{-5} $.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2023

A search for $\mu^+\to e^+\gamma$ with the first dataset of the MEG II experiment

The MEG II experiment, based at the Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland, reports the result of a search for the decay $\mu^+\to e^+\gamma$ from data taken in the first physics run in 2021. No excess of events over the expected background is observed, yielding an upper limit on the branching ratio of B($\mu^+\to e^+\gamma$) < $7.5 \times 10^{-13}$ (90% C.L.). The combination of this result and the limit obtained by MEG gives B($\mu^+\to e^+\gamma$) < $3.1 \times 10^{-13}$ (90% C.L.), which is the most stringent limit to date. A ten-fold larger sample of data is being collected during the years 2022-2023, and data-taking will continue in the coming years.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2023

Operation and performance of MEG II detector

The MEG II experiment, located at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) in Switzerland, is the successor to the MEG experiment, which completed data taking in 2013. MEG II started fully operational data taking in 2021, with the goal of improving the sensitivity of the mu+ -> e+ gamma decay down to 6e-14 almost an order of magnitude better than the current limit. In this paper, we describe the operation and performance of the experiment and give a new estimate of its sensitivity versus data acquisition time.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2022

Development of the Scintillating Fiber Timing Detector for the Mu3e Experiment

We present and discuss the development and performance of a compact scintillating fiber (SciFi) detector for timing to be used in the Mu3e experiment at very high particle rates. The SciFi detector is read out with multichannel silicon photomuiltipliers (SiPM) arrays at both ends to achieve the best timing performance. Mu3e is a new experiment under preparation at the Paul Scherrer Institute to search for charged Lepton Flavor Violation in the rare neutrinoless muon decay mu->eee using the most intense continuous surface muon beam in the world. The Mu3e detector is based on thin high-voltage monolithic active silicon pixel sensors (HV-MAPS) for very precise tracking in conjunction with scintillating fibers and scintillating tiles coupled to SiPMs for accurate timing measurements and it is designed to operate at very high intensities. In order to reach a single event sensitivity of 10^-16 for this rare mu->eee muon decay, all backgrounds must be rejected well below this level. To suppress all forms of accidental background, a very thin SciFi detector (thickness < 0.2% of a radiation length X_0) with a time resolution of 250 ps, efficiency in excess of 96%, and spatial resolution of 100 micron has been developed. In this paper we report on the development, construction, and performance of this SciFi detector. Different scintillating fiber types have been evaluated and various assembly procedures have been tested to achieve the best performance. The compact size, fast response, good timing, high spatial resolution, insensitivity to magnetic fields, and adaptable geometry make SciFi detectors suitable for a variety of applications.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2021

Technical design of the phase I Mu3e experiment

The Mu3e experiment aims to find or exclude the lepton flavour violating decay $μ\rightarrow eee$ at branching fractions above $10^{-16}$. A first phase of the experiment using an existing beamline at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) is designed to reach a single event sensitivity of $2\cdot 10^{-15}$. We present an overview of all aspects of the technical design and expected performance of the phase~I Mu3e detector. The high rate of up to $10^{8}$ muon decays per second and the low momenta of the decay electrons and positrons pose a unique set of challenges, which we tackle using an ultra thin tracking detector based on high-voltage monolithic active pixel sensors combined with scintillating fibres and tiles for precise timing measurements.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2002

Co-Addition for free Non-Associative Algebras and the Hausdorff Series

Generalizations of the series exp and log to noncommutative non-associative and other types of algebras were considered by M.Lazard, and recently by V.Drensky and L.Gerritzen. There is a unique power series exp(x) in one non-associative variable x such that exp(x)exp(x)=exp(2x), exp'(0)=1. We call the unique series H=H(x,y) in two non-associative variables satisfying exp(H)=exp(x)exp(y) the non-associative Hausdorff series, and we show that the homogeneous components of H are primitive elements with respect to the co-addition for non-associative variables. We describe the space of primitive elements for the co-addition in non-associative variables using Taylor expansion and a projector onto the algebra A_0 of constants for the partial derivations. By a theorem of Kurosh, A_0 is a free algebra. We describe a procedure to construct a free algebra basis consisting of primitive elements.

math.RA↗