Building on the rare pion and muon decay results of the PIBETA experiment, the PEN collaboration has undertaken a precise measurement of B_{pi e2} = R^pi_{e/mu}, the pi^+ -> e^+ u(gamma) decay branching ratio, at the Paul Scherrer Institute, to reduc
e the present 40times experimental precision lag behind theory to ~ 6-7times. Because of large helicity suppression, R^pi_{e/mu} is uniquely sensitive to contributions from non-(V-A) physics, making this decay a particularly suitable subject of study. Even at current precision, the experimental value of B_{pi e2} provides the most accurate test of lepton universality available. During runs in 2008-10, PEN has accumulated over 2times 10^7 pi_{e2} events; a comprehensive maximum-likelihood analysis is currently under way. The new data will also lead to improved precision of the earlier PIBETA results on radiative pi and mu decays.
Precision measurements in neutron beta decay serve to determine the coupling constants of beta decay and allow for several stringent tests of the standard model. This paper discusses the design and the expected performance of the Nab spectrometer.
A new measurement of $B_{pi e2}$, the $pi^+ to e^+ u(gamma)$ decay branching ratio, is currently under way at the Paul Scherrer Institute. The present experimental result on $B_{pi e2}$ constitutes the most accurate test of lepton universality availa
ble. The accuracy, however, still lags behind the theoretical precision by over an order of magnitude. Because of the large helicity suppression of the $pi_{e2}$ decay, its branching ratio is susceptible to significant contributions from new physics, making this decay a particularly suitable subject of study.
A new measurement of $B_{pi e2}$, the $pi^+ to e^+ u(gamma)$ decay branching ratio, is currently under way at the Paul Scherrer Institute. The present experimental result on $B_{pi e2}$ constitutes the most accurate test of lepton universality availa
ble. The accuracy, however, still lags behind the theoretical precision by over an order of magnitude. Thanks to the large helicity suppression of $pi_{e2}$ decay, the branching ratio is susceptible to significant contributions from new physics, making this decay a particularly suitable subject of study.
The PEN Collaboration is conducting a new measurement of the pi+ -> e+ nu branching ratio at the Paul Scherrer Institute, with the goal uncertainty of delta B/B(pie2)=5E-4 or lower. At present, the combined accuracy of all published pie2 decay measur
ements lags behind the theoretical calculation by a factor of 40. In this contribution we report on the PEN detector configuration and its performance during two development runs done in 2007 and 2008.
