The ''muon-to-electron conversion'' (Mu2e) experiment at Fermilab will search for the Charged Lepton Flavour Violating neutrino-less coherent conversion of a muon into an electron in the field of an aluminum nucleus. The observation of this process would be the unambiguous evidence of physics beyond the Standard Model. The detector has been designed as a state-of-the-art crystal calorimeter and employs 1348 pure Cesium Iodide (CsI) crystals readout by UV-extended silicon photosensors and fast front-end and digitization electronics. A design consisting of two identical annular matrices (named ''disks'') positioned at the relative distance of 70 cm, downstream the aluminum target along the muon beamline, satisfies the Mu2e physics requirements. The hostile Mu2e operational conditions, in terms of radiation levels (total ionizing dose of 90 krad and a neutron fluence of 5x10(12) n/cm(2)@1MeV eq(Si)/y), magnetic field intensity (1 T) and vacuum level (10(-4) Torr) have posed tight constraints on the design of the detector mechanical structures and materials choice. The support structure of the two 674 crystal matrices employs two aluminum hollow rings and parts made of open-cell vacuum-compatible carbon fiber. The photosensors and service front-end electronics for each crystal are assembled in a unique mechanical unit inserted in a machined copper holder. The 674 units are supported by a machined plate made of vacuum-compatible plastic material. The plate also integrates the cooling system made of a network of copper lines flowing a low temperature radiation-hard fluid and placed in thermal contact with the copper holders. The data acquisition electronics is hosted in aluminum custom crates positioned on the external lateral surface of the two disks. The crates also integrate the electronics cooling system.
The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will search for the neutrino-less coherent conversion of a muon into an electron in the field of a nucleus. Mu2e detectors comprise a straw tracker, an electromagnetic calorimeter and a veto for cosmic rays. The calorimeter employs 1348 Cesium Iodide crystals readout by silicon photomultipliers and fast front-end, and digitization electronics. The digitization board is named DiRAC (Digitizer ReAdout Controller) and 140 cards are needed for the readout of the full calorimeter. The DiRACs are hosted in crates located on the external surface of calorimeter disks, inside the detector solenoid cryostat and must sustain very high radiation and magnetic field so it was necessary to fully qualify it. Several version of prototypes were validated for operation in a high-vacuum (10(-4) Torr) and under a 1T magnetic field. An extensive radiation hardness qualification campaign, carried out with photons, 14 MeV neutron beams, and 200 MeV protons, certified the DiRAC design to sustain doses up to 12 krad, neutron fluences up to similar to 10(11)1 MeVn(eq)/cm(2), and very low occurrences of single-event effects. The qualification campaigns and quality assurance procedures will be reviewed.
The calorimeter of the Mu2e experiment is being assembled, with all production components completed and tested, apart from the digital electronics that is still underway. The mechanical structure is fully built, with a complete integration and test of all the analog sensors and electronics. We summarize construction and assembly phases, Quality Control tests, calibration procedures and first tests performed in the assembly area, as well as the installation and commissioning plans of the final disks in the Mu2e hall.
A bstract The ratio $$ \mathcal{R} $$ R = Γ( K S → πeν ) / Γ( K S → π + π − ) has been measured with a sample of 300 million K S mesons produced in ϕ → K L K S decays recorded by the KLOE experiment at the DAΦNE e + e − collider. K S → πeν events are selected by a boosted decision tree built with kinematic variables and time-of-flight measurements. Data control samples of K L → πeν decays are used to evaluate signal selection efficiencies. With 49647 ± 316 signal events we measure $$ \mathcal{R} $$ R = (1 . 0421 ± 0 . 0066 stat ± 0 . 0075 syst ) × 10 − 3 . The combination with our previous measurement gives $$ \mathcal{R} $$ R = (1 . 0338 ± 0 . 0054 stat ± 0 . 0064 syst ) × 10 − 3 . From this value we derive the branching fraction $$ \mathcal{B} $$ B ( K S → πeν ) = (7 . 153 ± 0 . 037 stat ± 0 . 044 syst ) × 10 − 4 and f + (0) |V us | = 0 . 2170 ± 0 . 009.
The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab searches for the neutrino-less conversion of a negative muon into an electron, with a distinctive signature of a mono-energetic electron with an energy of 104.967 MeV. The calorimeter is made of two disks of pure CsI crystals, each read out by two custom large-area UV-extended silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). It plays a fundamental role in providing excellent particle identification capabilities and an online trigger filter while improving the track reconstruction, requiring better than 10% energy and 500 ps timing resolutions for 100 MeV electrons. In this article, we present the status of construction and the quality control (QC) performed on the produced crystals and photosensors, the development of the rad-hard electronics, and the most important results of the irradiation tests. Construction of the mechanics is also reported. Status and plans for the calorimeter assembly and its first commissioning are described.
The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab aims to search for the SM forbidden mu(-) -> e(-) conversion in Al muonic atoms. The signal signature consists of 104.96 MeV electrons, identified by a straw-tube tracker and a crystal calorimeter, made of two annular disks. In order to calibrate the calorimeter disks with minimum ionizing particles (MIP) before the installation, we have realized a Cosmic Ray Tagger (CRT) at Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati (LNF) of INFN. The CRT consists of two planes of eight 2.5 x 1.5 x 160 cm(3) plastic scintillator (EJ-200) bars, coupled to SiPMs on both edges, so as to estimate longitudinal hit positions from time differences. 3D MIP tracking is achieved by reconstructing hit positions in the two planes, placed above and below the disks, and allows to calibrate the energy response, to align the time offsets, and to study the detector performances dependence along the crystals axis.
Tests of the T, CP and CPT symmetries in the neutral kaon system are performed by the direct comparison of the probabilities of a kaon transition process to its symmetry-conjugate. The exchange of in and out states required for a genuine test involving an antiunitary transformation implied by time-reversal is implemented exploiting the entanglement of K0K‾0 pairs produced at a ϕ-factory.A data sample collected by the KLOE experiment at DAΦNE corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 1.7 fb−1 is analysed to study the Δt distributions of the ϕ→KSKL→π+π−π±e∓ν and ϕ→KSKL→π±e∓ν3π0 processes, with Δt the difference of the kaon decay times. A comparison of the measured Δt distributions in the asymptotic region Δt≫τS allows to test for the first time T and CPT symmetries in kaon transitions with a precision of few percent, and to observe CP violation with this novel method.
The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will search for the neutrinoless μ−→e− conversion in the field of an aluminum nucleus. The Mu2e data-taking plan assumes two running periods, Run I and Run II, separated by an approximately two-year-long shutdown. This paper presents an estimate of the expected Mu2e Run I search sensitivity and includes a detailed discussion of the background sources, uncertainties of their prediction, analysis procedures, and the optimization of the experimental sensitivity. The expected Run I 5σ discovery sensitivity is Rμe=1.2×10−15, with a total expected background of 0.11±0.03 events. In the absence of a signal, the expected upper limit is Rμe<6.2×10−16 at 90% CL. This represents a three order of magnitude improvement over the current experimental limit of Rμe<7×10−13 at 90% CL set by the SINDRUM II experiment.
The Mu2e calorimeter will employ Readout Units, each made of two Silicon Photomultipliers arrays and two Front End Electronics boards. To calibrate them, we have designed, assembled and put in operation an automated Quality Control (QC) station. Gain, collected charge and photon detection efficiency are evaluated for each unit. In this paper, the QC Station is presented, in its hardware and software aspects, summarizing also the tests performed on the ROUs and the first measurement results.
The Calorimeter of the Mu2e experiment is a complicated detector made of crystal scintillators with dedicated read-out electronics per crystals. The compactness of the Front-End Units matrix, the complexity of the necessary services, and the limited space available after detector installation in the experimental hall make access, manipulation and maintenance of the Front-End Units very hard. This paper reports on the conceptual mechanical design of a robotic arm composed of a gantry structure for xyz positioning on the desired Front-End Unit and equipped with custom-designed grippers to perform the necessary maintenance operations. This includes the optimization of the Front-End Units cables routing.
The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will search for the standard model-forbidden, charged lepton flavour-violating conversion of a negative muon into an electron in the field of an aluminium nucleus. The distinctive signal signature is represented by a mono-energetic electron with an energy near the muon’s rest mass. The experiment aims to improve the current single-event sensitivity by four orders of magnitude by means of a high-intensity pulsed muon beam and a high-precision tracking system. The electromagnetic calorimeter complements the tracker by providing high rejection power in muon to electron identification and a seed for track reconstruction while working in vacuum in presence of a 1 T axial magnetic field and in a harsh radiation environment. For 100 MeV electrons, the calorimeter should achieve: (a) a time resolution better than 0.5 ns, (b) an energy resolution <10%, and (c) a position resolution of 1 cm. The calorimeter design consists of two disks, each loaded with 674 undoped CsI crystals read out by two large-area arrays of UV-extended SiPMs and custom analogue and digital electronics. We describe here the status of construction for all calorimeter components and the performance measurements conducted on the large-sized prototype with electron beams and minimum ionizing particles at a cosmic ray test stand. A discussion of the calorimeter’s engineering aspects and the on-going assembly is also reported.
Mu2e will search for the Charge Lepton Flavor Violating (CLFV) conversion of a muon into an electron in the field of a nucleus. A clean discovery signature is provided by the mono-energetic conversion electron ( E e = 104.96 MeV). If no events are observed, Mu2e will set a limit on the ratio between the conversion and the nuclear capture rate below 3 × 10 −17 (at 90% C.L.). In order to confirm that the observed candidate is an electron, the calorimeter resolution requirements are to provide E res < 10%, T res < 500 ps for 100 MeV electrons while working in vacuum and in a high radiation environment and high magnetic field. The calorimeter is made of two annular aluminum disks, each one filled with 674 pure CsI crystals read out by SiPMs. A sophisticated mechanics and cooling system has been developed to support the crystals and cool the sensors. Radiation hard analog and fast digital electronics have been developed. In this paper the QC tests performed on the produced components and the construction status are reported, as well as the results obtained on the large size prototype with test beam data and at a cosmic ray test stand.
The muon has played a central role in establishing the Standard Model of particle physics, and continues to provide valuable information about the nature of new physics. A new complex at Fermilab, the Advanced Muon Facility, would provide the world's most intense positive and negative muon beams by exploiting the full potential of PIP-II and the Booster upgrade. This facility would enable a broad muon physics program, including studies of charged lepton flavor violation, muonium-antimuonium transitions, a storage ring muon EDM experiment, and muon spin rotation experiments. This document describes a staged realization of this complex, together with a series of next-generation experiments to search for charged lepton flavor violation.
The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will search for the Standard Model forbidden conversion, within the field of a nucleus, of a negative muon into an electron. The Mu2e detector is composed of a straw tube based tracker for the precise determination of the conversion electron momentum and a calorimeter for providing particle identification and supporting track seeding. The Mu2e crystal calorimeter is made of two annular disks filled with pure CsI crystals. Each crystal is read by two UV-extended Silicon Photomultipliers which, with two Front End Electronics boards, form a Readout Unit (ROU). To ensure consistency and reliability of the ROUs, we have designed, assembled and put in operation an automated Quality Control (QC) station to test and calibrate the O(1500) ROUs needed by the Mu2e calorimeter. In this paper, we present the design details of the QC Station and the results obtained on the measured parameters for a large sample of production ROUs. The achieved reproducibility on the parameter determination is also reported.
A bstract The quantum interference between the decays of entangled neutral kaons is studied in the process ϕ → K S K L → π + π − π + π − , which exhibits the characteristic Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations that prevent both kaons to decay into π + π − at the same time. This constitutes a very powerful tool for testing at the utmost precision the quantum coherence of the entangled kaon pair state, and to search for tiny decoherence and $$ \mathcal{CPT} $$ CPT violation effects, which may be justified in a quantum gravity framework. The analysed data sample was collected with the KLOE detector at DAΦNE, the Frascati ϕ -factory, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of about 1.7 fb − 1 , i.e. to about 1 . 7 × 10 9 ϕ → K S K L decays produced. From the fit of the observed ∆ t distribution, being ∆ t the difference of the kaon decay times, the decoherence and $$ \mathcal{CPT} $$ CPT violation parameters of various phenomenological models are measured with a largely improved accuracy with respect to previous analyses. The results are consistent with no deviation from quantum mechanics and $$ \mathcal{CPT} $$ CPT symmetry, while for some parameters the precision reaches the interesting level at which — in the most optimistic scenarios — quantum gravity effects might show up. They provide the most stringent limits up to date on the considered models.
The Mu2e experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory will search for the charged-lepton flavour-violating neutrinoless conversion of negative muons into electrons in the Coulomb field of an Al nucleus. The conversion electron with a monoenergetic 104.967 MeV signature will be identified by a complementary measurement carried out by a high-resolution tracker and an electromagnetic calorimeter, improving by four orders of magnitude the current single-event sensitivity. The calorimeter—composed of 1348 pure CsI crystals arranged in two annular disks—has a high granularity, 10% energy resolution and 500 ps timing resolution for 100 MeV electrons. The readout, based on large-area UV-extended SiPMs, features a fully custom readout chain, from the analogue front-end electronics to the digitisation boards. The readout electronics design was validated for operation in vacuum and under magnetic fields. An extensive radiation hardness certification campaign certified the FEE design for doses up to 100 krad and 1012 n1MeVeq/cm2 and for single-event effects. A final vertical slice test on the final readout chain was carried out with cosmic rays on a large-scale calorimeter prototype.
The "muon-to-electron conversion" (Mu2e) experiment at Fermilab will search for the Charged Lepton Flavour Violating neutrino-less coherent conversion of a muon into an electron in the field of an aluminum nucleus. The electromagnetic calorimeter is one of the three Mu2e detectors. The hostile Mu2e operational conditions, in terms of radiation levels (total ionizing dose of 12 krad and a neutron fluence of 5x10(10) n/cm(2) @ 1 MeVeq (Si)/y), magnetic field intensity (1 T) and vacuum level (10(-4) Torr) have posed tight constraints on the design of the detector mechanical structures and materials choice. In this report the mechanical overall description of the calorimeter is presented, such as the qualification tests performed during the construction of its components and the realized technological choices.
The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will search for the charged-lepton flavor violating neutrino-less conversion of a negative muon into an electron in the field of an aluminum nucleus. The Mu2e detector is composed of a tracker, an electromagnetic calorimeter and an external veto for cosmic rays. The calorimeter plays an important role in providing excellent particle identification capabilities and a fast online trigger filter, while aiding the track reconstruction capabilities. Calorimeter requirements are to provide a large acceptance for 0∼10 MeV electrons and reach: i) a time resolution better than 0.5 ns; ii) an energy resolution better than 10%; and iii) a position resolution of 1 cm. The calorimeter consists of two disks, each one made of 674 pure CsI crystals. Each crystal is readout by two large area 2×3 arrays of UV-extended SiPMs of 6×6 mm2 dimensions. A large scale prototype (Module-0) has been tested at an electron beam. We report here the tests done to finalize the calorimeter design, the results obtained with Module-0 and the status of production. At this time, the performance characteristics of 85% of the crystals and all of the SiPMs have been measured. The calorimeter engineering drawings have been completed and the large mechanical components are under fabrication. Analog and digital electronics have been prototyped and tested with irradiation dose. Their serial production is being organized. The calorimeter assembly phase is planned for mid-2020.
Based on a sample of 300 million K S mesons produced in φ → K L K S decays recorded by the KLOE experiment at the DA (cid:5) NE e + e − collider we have measured the branching fraction for the decay K S → πμν . The K S mesons are identified by the interaction of K L mesons in the detector. The K S → πμν decays are selected by a boosted decision tree built with kinematic variables and by a time-of-flight measurement. Signal efficiencies are evaluated with data control samples of K L → πμν decays. A fit to the reconstructed muon mass distribution finds 7223 ± 180 signal events. Normalising to the K S → π + π − decay events the result for the branching fraction is B ( K S → πμν ) = ( 4 . 56 ± 0 . 11 stat ± 0 . 17 syst ) ×
Abstract Based on an integrated luminosity of 1.61 fb −1 e + e − collision data collected with the KLOE detector at DAΦNE, the Frascati ϕ-factory, a search for the P- and CP-violating decay η → π + π − has been performed. Radiative ϕ → ηγ decay is exploited to access the η mesons. No signal is observed in the π + π − invariant mass spectrum, and the upper limit on the branching fraction at 90% confidence level is determined to be ℬ(η → π + π − ) < 4.9 × 10 −6, which is approximately three times smaller than the previous KLOE result. From the combination of these two measurements we get ℬ(η → π + π − ) < 4.4 × 10 −6 at 90% confidence level.