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Register a new userPrecise Measurement of Muon Capture on the Proton
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The aim of the MuCap experiment is a 1% measurement of the singlet capture rate Lambda_S for the basic electro-weak reaction mu + p -> n + nu_mu. This observable is sensitive to the weak form-factors of the nucleon, in particular to the induced pseudoscalar coupling constant g_P. It will provide a rigorous test of theoretical predictions based on the Standard Model and effective theories of QCD. The present method is based on high precision lifetime measurements of mu^- in hydrogen gas and the comparison with the free mu^+ lifetime. The mu^- experiment will be performed in ultra-clean, deuterium-depleted H_2 gas at 10 bar. Low density compared to liquid H_2 is chosen to avoid uncertainties due to ppmu formation. A time projection chamber acts as a pure hydrogen active target. It defines the muon stop position in 3-D and detects rare background reactions. Decay electrons are tracked in cylindrical wire-chambers and a scintillator array covering 75% of 4 pi.
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By measuring the lifetime of the negative muon in pure protium (hydrogen-1), the MuCap experiment determines the rate of muon capture on the proton, from which the protons pseudoscalar coupling g_p may be inferred. A precision of 15% for g_p has been published; this is a step along the way to a goal of 7%. This coupling can be calculated precisely from heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory and therefore permits a test of QCDs chiral symmetry. Meanwhile, the MuSun experiment is in its final design stage; it will measure the rate of muon capture on the deuteron using a similar technique. This process can be related through pionless effective field theory and chiral perturbation theory to other two-nucleon reactions of astrophysical interest, including proton-proton fusion and deuteron breakup.
The MuCap experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute has measured the rate L_S of muon capture from the singlet state of the muonic hydrogen atom to a precision of 1%. A muon beam was stopped in a time projection chamber filled with 10-bar, ultra-pure hydrogen gas. Cylindrical wire chambers and a segmented scintillator barrel detected electrons from muon decay. L_S is determined from the difference between the mu- disappearance rate in hydrogen and the free muon decay rate. The result is based on the analysis of 1.2 10^10 mu- decays, from which we extract the capture rate L_S = (714.9 +- 5.4(stat) +- 5.1(syst)) s^-1 and derive the protons pseudoscalar coupling g_P(q^2_0 = -0.88 m^2_mu) = 8.06 +- 0.55.
We propose to measure the rate Rd for muon capture on the deuteron to better than 1.5% precision. This process is the simplest weak interaction process on a nucleus that can both be calculated and measured to a high degree of precision. The measurement will provide a benchmark result, far more precise than any current experimental information on weak interaction processes in the two-nucleon system. Moreover, it can impact our understanding of fundamental reactions of astrophysical interest, like solar pp fusion and the $ u+d$ reactions observed by the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. Recent effective field theory calculations have demonstrated, that all these reactions are related by one axial two-body current term, parameterized by a single low-energy constant. Muon capture on the deuteron is a clean and accurate way to determine this constant. Once it is known, the above mentioned astrophysical, as well as other important two-nucleon reactions, will be determined in a model independent way at the same precision as the measured muon capture reaction.
We survey a new generation of precision muon lifetime experiments. The goal of the MuCap experiment is a determination of the rate for muon capture on the free proton to 1 percent, from which the induced pseudoscalar form factor $g_P$ of the nucleon can be derived with 7 percent precision. A measurement of the related $mu$d capture process with similar precision would provide unique information on the axial current in the two nucleon system, relevant for fundamental neutrino reactions on deuterium. The MuLan experiment aims to measure the positive muon lifetime with 20 fold improved precision compared to present knowledge in order to determine the Fermi Coupling Constant $G_F$ to better than 1 ppm.
Using the Double Chooz detector, designed to measure the neutrino mixing angle $theta_{13}$, the products of $mu^-$ capture on $^{12}$C, $^{13}$C, $^{14}$N and $^{16}$O have been measured. Over a period of 489.5 days, $2.3times10^6$ stopping cosmic $mu^-$ have been collected, of which $1.8times10^5$ captured on carbon, nitrogen, or oxygen nuclei in the inner detector scintillator or acrylic vessels. The resulting isotopes were tagged using prompt neutron emission (when applicable), the subsequent beta decays, and, in some cases, $beta$-delayed neutrons. The most precise measurement of the rate of $^{12}mathrm C(mu^-, u)^{12}mathrm B$ to date is reported: $6.57^{+0.11}_{-0.21}times10^{3},mathrm s^{-1}$, or $(17.35^{+0.35}_{-0.59})%$ of nuclear captures. By tagging excited states emitting gammas, the ground state transition rate to $^{12}$B has been determined to be $5.68^{+0.14}_{-0.23}times10^3,mathrm s^{-1}$. The heretofore unobserved reactions $^{12}mathrm C(mu^-, ualpha)^{8}mathrm{Li}$, $^{13}mathrm C(mu^-, umathrm nalpha)^{8}mathrm{Li}$, and $^{13}mathrm C(mu^-, umathrm n)^{12}mathrm B$ are measured. Further, a population of $beta$n decays following stopping muons is identified with $5.5sigma$ significance. Statistics limit our ability to identify these decays definitively. Assuming negligible production of $^{8}$He, the reaction $^{13}mathrm C(mu^-, ualpha)^{9}mathrm{Li}$ is found to be present at the $2.7sigma$ level. Limits are set on a variety of other processes.
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