Precision Measurement of the Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment

University Of Kentucky Research Foundation, Lexington KY

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports continuing research activities to precisely measure characteristics of an elementary particle called the muon, which is similar to the electron but with larger mass. The experiment takes place at Fermi National Accelerator Facility (Fermilab) near Chicago, Illinois. Precise experimental tests of fundamental particle properties are now a well-established way to search for new laws of nature beyond our current physical knowledge. The measurement will address an intriguing discrepancy between a prior measurement and the Standard Model prediction of the muon?s characteristics and is sensitive to new particles and undetected forces that uniquely complement other efforts at high energy colliders and elsewhere. The PI will continue his involvement of high school students, physics majors, graduate students and post-doctoral researchers in research activities. The group's involvement in high-performance data acquisition, analysis and simulations will expose students to many aspects of innovative computer and telecommunications technology. The muon g-2 experiment will measure the muon anomalous magnetic moment to 140 ppb; a four-fold improvement over the prior BNL E821 experiment. The measurement will address the longstanding discrepancy of ~3.5 sigma between the previous BNL E821 measurement and the Standard Model prediction. It represents a key test of the Standard Model and has broad sensitivity to new particles and interactions beyond the Standard Model. It complements other searches for new physics at the energy, intensity and cosmic frontiers. The muon g-2 project has involved the relocation of the E821 muon storage ring from Brookhaven National Laboratory to Fermilab as well as major upgrades of the detector, electronics and acquisition sub-systems. The installation of the storage ring and its associated instrumentation on the Fermilab muon campus was completed in 2017. The first data taking run took place from November, 2017 to July, 2018 and has already exceeded the statistics of prior BNL E821. Two further majo running periods over the next three years should achieve the goals of collecting about 21 times the statistics of BNL E821. The PI's group has been, and continues to be, the lead for both the 20 GByte/sec, 100 TFlop, g-2 data readout and processing system and the infrastructure, analysis and simulation effort for the Q-method determination of the anomalous precession frequency. About one third of the group's overall effort will be associated with data acquisition responsibilities and two thirds of the overall effort associated with Q-method analysis responsibilities. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.