Collaborative Research: Equipment for and Running of the PSI MUSE Experiment

合作研究：PSI MUSE 实验的设备和运行

• 批准号: 1404271
• 负责人: Ronald Gilman
• 金额: $ 27.09万
• 依托单位: Rutgers University New Brunswick
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-15 至 2017-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1404271&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Equipment; Running; PSI

A fundamental goal of subatomic physics is the precise determination of the physical properties of subatomic particles. The radius of the proton is one of these properties. The radius can be measured by scattering electrons or muons from protons, or by measuring the energy levels of hydrogen or muonic hydrogen, an atom in which the electron is replaced by a muon. To date, the radius has been measured by scattering of electrons, and by the energy levels of hydrogen and muonic hydrogen. The muonic measurements disagree with the electronic measurements, an issue known as "the proton radius puzzle." The discrepancy has attracted wide attention, because it may indicate the existence of previously unobserved and unexpected differences between the interactions of muons and electrons.A dedicated MUon proton Scattering Experiment (MUSE), which will run at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland and directly compare the scattering of muons and electrons from protons, is highly anticipated by experts in the field for its potential to resolve the puzzle. This project will cover the prototyping and development of several crucial components of the MUSE experiment detectors. This project will involve the training of students and young scientists, at the undergraduate, graduate, post-doctoral, and junior faculty levels. The institutions involved in this project have trained large numbers of students of each type, including from minority populations. The training they have received in the process of doing basic research has led to careers in a variety of areas, from medical physics to national security, in addition to continued work in fundamental physics research. The MUSE experiment will broaden the perspective of American students by having them work in an international collaboration at an international laboratory, which will prepare them effectively to become prominent global scientists of the next generation. With the broad interest in the proton radius puzzle, MUSE has the potential to be broadly inspirational beyond the current scientific community.The experiment uses a mixed beam of electrons, muons, and pions. The measurement requires high precision and small systematic errors. This project will build and test the components of the detector system. These include scintillation fiber detectors to measure the trajectories of incoming particles, Cerenkov detectors for particle identification, GEM detectors for precise positioning, straw tube detectors for measuring the trajectories of scattered particles, and scintillation detectors for particle identification of the scattered particles. In addition, a liquid hydrogen target will be developed. Development and testing of these detectors will demonstrate that the required precision can be obtained.

亚原子物理学的一个基本目标是精确测定亚原子粒子的物理性质。 质子的半径就是这些性质之一。 半径可以通过从质子散射电子或μ子来测量，或者通过测量氢或μ子氢的能级来测量，μ子氢是一种电子被μ子取代的原子。 到目前为止，半径已经通过电子的散射以及氢和μ子氢的能级来测量。 μ介子的测量结果与电子的测量结果不一致，这个问题被称为“质子半径之谜”。“这种差异引起了广泛的关注，因为它可能表明μ子和电子之间的相互作用存在以前未观察到的和意想不到的差异。一个专门的μ子质子散射实验（MUSE）将在瑞士的保罗谢勒研究所运行，并直接比较质子的μ子和电子的散射，该领域的专家对它解决这个难题的潜力寄予厚望。该项目将涵盖MUSE实验探测器几个关键组件的原型设计和开发。该项目将涉及在本科生、研究生、博士后和初级教员各级培训学生和青年科学家。参与该项目的机构培训了大量各类学生，包括少数民族学生。他们在基础研究过程中接受的培训导致了从医学物理到国家安全等各个领域的职业生涯，此外还继续从事基础物理研究。MUSE实验将拓宽美国学生的视野，让他们在国际实验室进行国际合作，这将使他们有效地为成为下一代杰出的全球科学家做好准备。随着人们对质子半径之谜的广泛兴趣，MUSE有可能在当前科学界之外产生广泛的启发性。该实验使用了电子、μ子和π子的混合束。 测量要求精度高、系统误差小。该项目将建造和测试探测器系统的组成部分。 这些包括用于测量入射粒子轨迹的闪烁光纤探测器、用于粒子识别的切伦科夫探测器、用于精确定位的GEM探测器、用于测量散射粒子轨迹的吸管探测器以及用于散射粒子的粒子识别的闪烁探测器。 此外，还将研制液氢靶。 这些探测器的开发和测试将证明可以获得所需的精度。