Tim Gorringe (U Kentucky)
Date: Tue. February 22nd, 2022, 11:00 am-12:00 pm
Location: Zoom
Special time 11:00 am ET!!
Precision measurements of the positive muon lifetime and muonic hydrogen atom lifetime
I will describe the results from two sister experiments — MuLan and MuCap — conducted at at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland. In the MuLan experiment the positive muon lifetime was measured to +/-1.0 ppm precision and used to extract the Fermi Constant G_F to +/-0.6 ppm precision. In the MuCap experiment the muonic hydrogen atom lifetime was measured to +/-10 ppm precision and used to extract the induced pseudoscalar coupling g_p of the proton weak interaction to +/-7%. The results were significant improvements in the experimental determination of these fundamental constants and offer improved tests of electroweak interactions (G_F) and QCD symmetries (g_p). I will discuss our novel, low-energy, time-structured muon beam at PSI, the experimental challenges of part-per-million lifetime measurements, as well as presenting the results and impact.
Host: Yu-Hao Sun