Precision muon physics

T. P. Gorringe, D. W. Hertzog

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

75 Scopus citations

Abstract

The muon is playing a unique role in sub-atomic physics. Studies of muon decay both determine the overall strength and establish the chiral structure of weak interactions, as well as setting extraordinary limits on charged-lepton-flavor-violating processes. Measurements of the muon's anomalous magnetic moment offer singular sensitivity to the completeness of the standard model and the predictions of many speculative theories. Spectroscopy of muonium and muonic atoms gives unmatched determinations of fundamental quantities including the magnetic moment ratio μμp, lepton mass ratio mμ/me, and proton charge radius rp. Also, muon capture experiments are exploring elusive features of weak interactions involving nucleons and nuclei. We will review the experimental landscape of contemporary high-precision and high-sensitivity experiments with muons. One focus is the novel methods and ingenious techniques that achieve such precision and sensitivity in recent, present, and planned experiments. Another focus is the uncommonly broad and topical range of questions in atomic, nuclear and particle physics that such experiments explore.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)73-123
Number of pages51
JournalProgress in Particle and Nuclear Physics
Volume84
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 30 2015

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Muon
  • New physics
  • Standard model tests
  • Weak interaction

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics

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