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Detailed report of the MuLan measurement of the positive muon lifetime and determination of the Fermi constant

  • V. Tishchenko*
  • , S. Battu
  • , R. M. Carey
  • , D. B. Chitwood
  • , J. Crnkovic
  • , P. T. Debevec
  • , S. Dhamija
  • , W. Earle
  • , A. Gafarov
  • , K. Giovanetti
  • , T. P. Gorringe
  • , F. E. Gray
  • , Z. Hartwig
  • , D. W. Hertzog
  • , B. Johnson
  • , P. Kammel
  • , B. Kiburg
  • , S. Kizilgul
  • , J. Kunkle
  • , B. Lauss
  • I. Logashenko, R. McNabb, J. P. Miller, F. Mulhauser, C. J. G. Onderwater, Q. Peng, J. Phillips, S. Rath, B.L. Roberts, D. M. Webber, P. Winter, B. Wolfe, μLan Collaboration
*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

We present a detailed report of the method, setup, analysis, and results of a precision measurement of the positive muon lifetime. The experiment was conducted at the Paul Scherrer Institute using a time-structured, nearly 100% polarized surface muon beam and a segmented, fast-timing plastic scintillator array. The measurement employed two target arrangements: a magnetized ferromagnetic target with a similar to 4 kG internal magnetic field and a crystal quartz target in a 130 G external magnetic field. Approximately 1.6 X 10(12) positrons were accumulated and together the data yield a muon lifetime of T-mu(MuLan) = 2196980.3(2.2) ps (1.0 ppm), 30 times more precise than previous generations of lifetime experiments. The lifetime measurement yields the most accurate value of the Fermi constant G(F)(MuLan) = 1.1663787(6) X 10(-5) GeV-2 (0.5 ppm). It also enables new precision studies of weak interactions via lifetime measurements of muonic atoms. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.87.052003
Original languageEnglish
JournalPhysical Review D
Volume87
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 Mar 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • RADIATIVE-CORRECTIONS
  • NEUTRON DECAY
  • FRAMEWORK
  • QUARTZ
  • SYSTEM

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