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We propose the continuation of the MEG experiment to search for the charged lepton flavour violating decay (cLFV) mu to e gamma, based on an upgrade of the experiment, which aims for a sensitivity enhancement of one order of magnitude compared to the final MEG result, down to the $6 times 10^{-14}$ level. The key features of this new MEG upgrade are an increased rate capability of all detectors to enable running at the intensity frontier and improved energy, angular and timing resolutions, for both the positron and photon arms of the detector. On the positron-side a new low-mass, single volume, high granularity tracker is envisaged, in combination with a new highly segmented, fast timing counter array, to track positron from a thinner stopping target. The photon-arm, with the largest liquid xenon (LXe) detector in the world, totalling 900 l, will also be improved by increasing the granularity at the incident face, by replacing the current photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) with a larger number of smaller photosensors and optimizing the photosensor layout also on the lateral faces. A new DAQ scheme involving the implementation of a new combined readout board capable of integrating the diverse functions of digitization, trigger capability and splitter functionality into one condensed unit, is also under development. We describe here the status of the MEG experiment, the scientific merits of the upgrade and the experimental methods we plan to use.
FASERnu is a proposed small and inexpensive emulsion detector designed to detect collider neutrinos for the first time and study their properties. FASERnu will be located directly in front of FASER, 480 m from the ATLAS interaction point along the beam collision axis in the unused service tunnel TI12. From 2021-23 during Run 3 of the 14 TeV LHC, roughly 1,300 electron neutrinos, 20,000 muon neutrinos, and 20 tau neutrinos will interact in FASERnu with TeV-scale energies. With the ability to observe these interactions, reconstruct their energies, and distinguish flavors, FASERnu will probe the production, propagation, and interactions of neutrinos at the highest human-made energies ever recorded. The FASERnu detector will be composed of 1000 emulsion layers interleaved with tungsten plates. The total volume of the emulsion and tungsten is 25cm x 25cm x 1.35m, and the tungsten target mass is 1.2 tonnes. From 2021-23, 7 sets of emulsion layers will be installed, with replacement roughly every 20-50 1/fb in planned Technical Stops. In this document, we summarize FASERnus physics goals and discuss the estimates of neutrino flux and interaction rates. We then describe the FASERnu detector in detail, including plans for assembly, transport, installation, and emulsion replacement, and procedures for emulsion readout and analyzing the data. We close with cost estimates for the detector components and infrastructure work and a timeline for the experiment.
We propose a search of galactic axions with mass about 0.2 microeV using a large volume resonant cavity, about 50 m^3, cooled down to 4 K and immersed in a moderate axial magnetic field of about 0.6 T generated inside the superconducting magnet of the KLOE experiment located at the National Laboratory of Frascati of INFN. This experiment, called KLASH (KLoe magnet for Axion SearcH) in the following, has a potential sensitivity on the axion-to-photon coupling, g_agg, of about 6x10^-17 GeV-1, reaching the region predicted by KSVZ and DFSZ models of QCD axions.
FASER is a proposed small and inexpensive experiment designed to search for light, weakly-interacting particles during Run 3 of the LHC from 2021-23. Such particles may be produced in large numbers along the beam collision axis, travel for hundreds of meters without interacting, and then decay to standard model particles. To search for such events, FASER will be located 480 m downstream of the ATLAS IP in the unused service tunnel TI12 and be sensitive to particles that decay in a cylindrical volume with radius R=10 cm and length L=1.5 m. FASER will complement the LHCs existing physics program, extending its discovery potential to a host of new, light particles, with potentially far-reaching implications for particle physics and cosmology. This document describes the technical details of the FASER detector components: the magnets, the tracker, the scintillator system, and the calorimeter, as well as the trigger and readout system. The preparatory work that is needed to install and operate the detector, including civil engineering, transport, and integration with various services is also presented. The information presented includes preliminary cost estimates for the detector components and the infrastructure work, as well as a timeline for the design, construction, and installation of the experiment.
The MEG experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) represents the state of the art in the search for the charged Lepton Flavour Violating (cLFV) $mu^+ rightarrow e^+ gamma$ decay. With the phase 1, MEG set the new world best upper limit on the $mbox{BR}(mu^+ rightarrow e^+ gamma) < 4.2 times 10^{-13}$ (90% C.L.). With the phase 2, MEG II, the experiment aims at reaching a sensitivity enhancement of about one order of magnitude compared to the previous MEG result. The new Cylindrical Drift CHamber (CDCH) is a key detector for MEG II. CDCH is a low-mass single volume detector with high granularity: 9 layers of 192 drift cells, few mm wide, defined by $sim 12000$ wires in a stereo configuration for longitudinal hit localization. The filling gas mixture is Helium:Isobutane (90:10). The total radiation length is $1.5 times 10^{-3}$ $mbox{X}_0$, thus minimizing the Multiple Coulomb Scattering (MCS) contribution and allowing for a single-hit resolution $< 120$ $mu$m and an angular and momentum resolutions of 6 mrad and 90 keV/c respectively. This article presents the CDCH commissioning activities at PSI after the wiring phase at INFN Lecce and the assembly phase at INFN Pisa. The endcaps preparation, HV tests and conditioning of the chamber are described, aiming at reaching the final stable working point. The integration into the MEG II experimental apparatus is described, in view of the first data taking with cosmic rays and $mu^+$ beam during the 2018 and 2019 engineering runs. The first gas gain results are also shown. A full engineering run with all the upgraded detectors and the complete DAQ electronics is expected to start in 2020, followed by three years of physics data taking.
The MEG experiment, designed to search for the mu+->e+ gamma decay at a 10^-13 sensitivity level, completed data taking in 2013. In order to increase the sensitivity reach of the experiment by an order of magnitude to the level of 6 x 10-14 for the branching ratio, a total upgrade, involving substantial changes to the experiment, has been undertaken, known as MEG II. We present both the motivation for the upgrade and a detailed overview of the design of the experiment and of the expected detector performance.