US lab’s muon conversion experiment reaches key milestone with tracker installation

The tracker was lowered into Mu2e Hall in November, joining the two calorimeter disks already installed over the rails in September.JJ Starr, Fermilab Researchers in the United States’ Fermilab moved the final subdetector for Mu2e into the experiment hall, marking a major step forward for the collaboration. Mu2e, or the Muon-to-Electron Conversion Experiment, is a particle physics experiment at Fermilab in the US.Once completed, Mu2e will search for a rare muon conversion that may unlock evidence of physics beyond the Standard Model.The Mu2e experiment, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, reached an important milestone in November as the collaboration moved a key component of the experiment, called the tracker, across the Fermilab campus into Mu2e Hall. Mu2e experiment “This is a major moment for Mu2e,” said Bob Bernstein, Mu2e co-spokesperson. “Soon, we’re going to be able to start looking at our first particle tracks from cosmic rays passing through all of our detectors.”Researchers revealed that although the Standard Model of particle physics is scientists’ best explanation for how the universe works, it doesn’t account for phenomena like dark matter and dark energy. So, scientists are on the hunt for new physics. Muon-to-electron conversion Mu2e, as its name suggests, will be looking for the direct conversion of a muon into an electron without producing neutrinos. From previous experiments, scientists know that this hypothetical muon-to-electron conversion would be extremely rare. If the phenomenon occurs, it will happen less often than once every 1 trillion muon decays, according to a press release.Subatomic particles called muons are in the same family as electrons: charged leptons.

The Standard Model dictates that when a muon decays into an electron, two neutrinos are also produced. But physicists believe it’s possible that charged leptons convert directly into each other. “One of the keys to intensity frontier experiments is designing an experiment that enables us to look at a process very quickly and then repeat that billions, if not trillions of times,” said Brendan Kiburg, Mu2e tracker project manager.“Mu2e is going to produce one muon for every grain of sand on Earth’s beaches, which is kind of an incomprehensible number of muons.” Researchers revealed that to handle so many muons, Mu2e has a unique, sinuous design. Three magnets make up the body of the experiment. The first magnet is called the production solenoid. This is where the muons are produced. The transport solenoid then delivers those muons into the detector solenoid that will hold Mu2e’s subdetectors. There, the muons encounter an aluminum target where they are stopped, captured and potentially undergo this hypothetical muon-to-electron conversion. The secondary particles produced will then encounter the first subdetector, called the tracker, as per the release. “The Mu2e tracker is an interesting construction because we didn’t want to have any mass on the inside of the tracker to interfere with the particles we’re trying to detect,” said Kiburg. This design also helps the experiment weed out particles at the wrong energies. Researchers pointed out that as an electron enters the detector solenoid, the magnetic field will force the particle to spiral. If an electron has too low a momentum, the spiral is too tight, and it will never encounter the tracker, leaving the subdetector without ever interacting. But a higher momentum particle, which is more likely to be within the desired energy range, can spiral into the heart of the detector and produce a signal. “Thanks to this sophisticated detection system, we can beautifully reconstruct the candidate particle’s momentum,” said Stefano Miscetti, Mu2e co-spokesperson. “So, if we say this event is just an electron, there will be no doubt that we saw just an electron.” Now that the tracker has joined the calorimeter and cosmic ray veto at the Mu2e Hall, the experiment can begin integrating the three subdetectors together to be read out by Mu2e’s data acquisition system. Recommended ArticlesGet the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Sign up for freeBy subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and PoliciesYou may unsubscribe at any time.0COMMENTByPrabhat Ranjan MishraPrabhat, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, is a tech and defense journalist. While he enjoys writing on modern weapons and emerging tech, he has also reported on global politics and business. He has been previously associated with well-known media houses, including the International Business Times (Singapore Edition) and ANI.TRENDINGLATEST1China develops Mach 6 hypersonic naval gun projectiles with 12-mile range2New 3D printing technique lets soft robots bend, twist, and grasp on command3China switches on world's first 20MW wind turbine to feed power into the grid4Japan fusion startup completes 'one-of-a-kind' coil manufacturing machine5US to resurrect Cold War-era 190,000-square-foot nuclear plant after 30-year dormancyMore from ScienceSee AllScience‘Impossible’ material: Researchers create glass-plastic hybrid that defies physics theoryScienceGerman team discovers new type of magnetism in 2D materials to help store future dataInnovationBoston Dynamics: building robots to do the jobs humans shouldn’tScienceScientists identify ‘space battery’ powering Earth’s northern lights displayScienceUS scientists create recipe to tune quantum superconductor using ‘control knob’Science‘Impossible’ material: Researchers create glass-plastic hybrid that defies physics theoryScienceGerman team discovers new type of magnetism in 2D materials to help store future dataInnovationBoston Dynamics: building robots to do the jobs humans shouldn’tScienceScientists identify ‘space battery’ powering Earth’s northern lights displayScienceUS scientists create recipe to tune quantum superconductor using ‘control knob’WEAR YOUR GENIUSShop NowJOBSSee AllGeneral ApplicationRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobEditorRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobGeneral ApplicationRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobEditorRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobMore from ScienceSee AllScience‘Impossible’ material: Researchers create glass-plastic hybrid that defies physics theoryScienceGerman team discovers new type of magnetism in 2D materials to help store future dataInnovationBoston Dynamics: building robots to do the jobs humans shouldn’tScienceScientists identify ‘space battery’ powering Earth’s northern lights displayScienceUS scientists create recipe to tune quantum superconductor using ‘control knob’Science‘Impossible’ material: Researchers create glass-plastic hybrid that defies physics theoryScienceGerman team discovers new type of magnetism in 2D materials to help store future dataInnovationBoston Dynamics: building robots to do the jobs humans shouldn’tScienceScientists identify ‘space battery’ powering Earth’s northern lights displayScienceUS scientists create recipe to tune quantum superconductor using ‘control knob’JOBSSee AllGeneral ApplicationRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobEditorRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobGeneral ApplicationRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobEditorRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobThe tracker was lowered into Mu2e Hall in November, joining the two calorimeter disks already installed over the rails in September.JJ Starr, Fermilab Researchers in the United States’ Fermilab moved the final subdetector for Mu2e into the experiment hall, marking a major step forward for the collaboration. Mu2e, or the Muon-to-Electron Conversion Experiment, is a particle physics experiment at Fermilab in the US.Once completed, Mu2e will search for a rare muon conversion that may unlock evidence of physics beyond the Standard Model.The Mu2e experiment, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, reached an important milestone in November as the collaboration moved a key component of the experiment, called the tracker, across the Fermilab campus into Mu2e Hall. Mu2e experiment “This is a major moment for Mu2e,” said Bob Bernstein, Mu2e co-spokesperson. “Soon, we’re going to be able to start looking at our first particle tracks from cosmic rays passing through all of our detectors.”Researchers revealed that although the Standard Model of particle physics is scientists’ best explanation for how the universe works, it doesn’t account for phenomena like dark matter and dark energy. So, scientists are on the hunt for new physics. Muon-to-electron conversion Mu2e, as its name suggests, will be looking for the direct conversion of a muon into an electron without producing neutrinos. From previous experiments, scientists know that this hypothetical muon-to-electron conversion would be extremely rare. If the phenomenon occurs, it will happen less often than once every 1 trillion muon decays, according to a press release.Subatomic particles called muons are in the same family as electrons: charged leptons.

The Standard Model dictates that when a muon decays into an electron, two neutrinos are also produced. But physicists believe it’s possible that charged leptons convert directly into each other. “One of the keys to intensity frontier experiments is designing an experiment that enables us to look at a process very quickly and then repeat that billions, if not trillions of times,” said Brendan Kiburg, Mu2e tracker project manager.“Mu2e is going to produce one muon for every grain of sand on Earth’s beaches, which is kind of an incomprehensible number of muons.” Researchers revealed that to handle so many muons, Mu2e has a unique, sinuous design. Three magnets make up the body of the experiment. The first magnet is called the production solenoid. This is where the muons are produced. The transport solenoid then delivers those muons into the detector solenoid that will hold Mu2e’s subdetectors. There, the muons encounter an aluminum target where they are stopped, captured and potentially undergo this hypothetical muon-to-electron conversion. The secondary particles produced will then encounter the first subdetector, called the tracker, as per the release. “The Mu2e tracker is an interesting construction because we didn’t want to have any mass on the inside of the tracker to interfere with the particles we’re trying to detect,” said Kiburg. This design also helps the experiment weed out particles at the wrong energies. Researchers pointed out that as an electron enters the detector solenoid, the magnetic field will force the particle to spiral. If an electron has too low a momentum, the spiral is too tight, and it will never encounter the tracker, leaving the subdetector without ever interacting. But a higher momentum particle, which is more likely to be within the desired energy range, can spiral into the heart of the detector and produce a signal. “Thanks to this sophisticated detection system, we can beautifully reconstruct the candidate particle’s momentum,” said Stefano Miscetti, Mu2e co-spokesperson. “So, if we say this event is just an electron, there will be no doubt that we saw just an electron.” Now that the tracker has joined the calorimeter and cosmic ray veto at the Mu2e Hall, the experiment can begin integrating the three subdetectors together to be read out by Mu2e’s data acquisition system. Recommended ArticlesGet the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Sign up for freeBy subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and PoliciesYou may unsubscribe at any time.0COMMENTByPrabhat Ranjan MishraPrabhat, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, is a tech and defense journalist. While he enjoys writing on modern weapons and emerging tech, he has also reported on global politics and business. He has been previously associated with well-known media houses, including the International Business Times (Singapore Edition) and ANI.TRENDINGLATEST1China develops Mach 6 hypersonic naval gun projectiles with 12-mile range2New 3D printing technique lets soft robots bend, twist, and grasp on command3China switches on world's first 20MW wind turbine to feed power into the grid4Japan fusion startup completes 'one-of-a-kind' coil manufacturing machine5US to resurrect Cold War-era 190,000-square-foot nuclear plant after 30-year dormancyMore from ScienceSee AllScience‘Impossible’ material: Researchers create glass-plastic hybrid that defies physics theoryScienceGerman team discovers new type of magnetism in 2D materials to help store future dataInnovationBoston Dynamics: building robots to do the jobs humans shouldn’tScienceScientists identify ‘space battery’ powering Earth’s northern lights displayScienceUS scientists create recipe to tune quantum superconductor using ‘control knob’Science‘Impossible’ material: Researchers create glass-plastic hybrid that defies physics theoryScienceGerman team discovers new type of magnetism in 2D materials to help store future dataInnovationBoston Dynamics: building robots to do the jobs humans shouldn’tScienceScientists identify ‘space battery’ powering Earth’s northern lights displayScienceUS scientists create recipe to tune quantum superconductor using ‘control knob’WEAR YOUR GENIUSShop NowJOBSSee AllGeneral ApplicationRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobEditorRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobGeneral ApplicationRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobEditorRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobMore from ScienceSee AllScience‘Impossible’ material: Researchers create glass-plastic hybrid that defies physics theoryScienceGerman team discovers new type of magnetism in 2D materials to help store future dataInnovationBoston Dynamics: building robots to do the jobs humans shouldn’tScienceScientists identify ‘space battery’ powering Earth’s northern lights displayScienceUS scientists create recipe to tune quantum superconductor using ‘control knob’Science‘Impossible’ material: Researchers create glass-plastic hybrid that defies physics theoryScienceGerman team discovers new type of magnetism in 2D materials to help store future dataInnovationBoston Dynamics: building robots to do the jobs humans shouldn’tScienceScientists identify ‘space battery’ powering Earth’s northern lights displayScienceUS scientists create recipe to tune quantum superconductor using ‘control knob’JOBSSee AllGeneral ApplicationRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobEditorRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobGeneral ApplicationRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee JobEditorRemote • RemoteNot specifiedSee Job