Precision Measurement of the Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment

Grants and Contracts Details

Description

Precision measurement of the muon anomalous magnetic moment We propose continuing research involving major responsibilities for data acquisition, analysis and simulation on the muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab. Intellectual merit. The muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab will measure the muon's anomalous magnetic moment alpha-mu to 140 ppb - a four-fold improvement over the previous BNL 821 experiment. The measurement addresses the persistent 3.6-4.1 sigma discrepancy between the BNL experimental result and the standard model prediction. The measurement of alpha-omega is well known as a unique test of the standard model that offers broad sensitivity to new particles and exotic interactions that lie beyond the standard model. The goal of 140 ppb precision is commensurate with ongoing improvements in the SM prediction for the muon anomaly arising from new e+e- cross section data and new calculational approaches relevant to the hadronic vacuum polarization contribution. In 2014 the g-2 storage ring was relocated from BNL to FNAL. During 2015 the magnet was reassembled and successfully powered-up and cooled-down and during 2016 a careful sequence of shimming procedures were performed to achieve the required magnetic field uniformity. Through late 2016 and early 2017, other storage ring components (inflector, kicker, etc.) and various detector packages (calorimeters, trackers, etc.) were installed and tested. Finally, in June 2017, an initial, low-rate, commissioning run of the muon beamline, storage ring and detector systems was conducted. It resulted in our first stored muons and our first omega-alpha wiggle plot. Over the next year the g-2 experiment will transition from a commissioning phase to the production phase and a series of lengthy data-taking runs over the next three years. Our goals are collection of 1-2 BNL-statistics by mid-2018, 5-10 BNL-statistics by mid-2019, and 10-15 BNL-statistics by mid-2020. During the earlier design, protoyping and construction phases the PI was the co-leader of the detector team and the project manager for the g-2 data acquisition system. The PI also led the effort in developing, simulating and testing the Q-method analysis technique for extracting the anomalous frequency omega-alpha. The PI's current group - the PI, post-doc Wes Gohn, and PhD students Fang Han and Ritwika Chakraborty - are responsible for (i) the commissioning, operations and future development of the 20 GB/s data readout and 100 TFlop real-time processing system for g-2 data acquisition and (ii) the data analysis and simulation work for the determination of the anomalous precession frequency omega-alpha using the so-called Q-method. Our post-doc is the computing manager, data acquisition manager and the Q-method analysis convener for the muon g-2 experiment. UKy PhD student Fang Hang is currently based at Fermilab and will complete his thesis on the 5-10 BNL-statistics, Q-method omega-alpha analysis. UKy PhD student Ritwika Chakraborty will relocate to FNAL in 2019 and complete her thesis on the 10-15 BNL-statistics, Q-method omega-alpha analysis.
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date9/1/188/31/22

Funding

  • National Science Foundation: $555,000.00

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