Improving electron momentum resolution for muon-to-electron conversion searches using novel stopping target geometries
Yury Kolomensky, Professor
Physics
Applications for Fall 2025 are closed for this project.
Mu2e is a medium-scale Particle Physics experiment currently under construction at Fermi National Lab, with UCB and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab as collaborating institutions. Mu2e will search for the ultra-rare process whereby a muon particle converts directly into an electron, without the emission of any neutrinos. Though not forbidden by the Standard Model of particle physics, this process has never been observed, despite nearly 80 years of attempts. Mu2e will employ the world's most intense muon beam to increase the search sensitivity by nearly 4 orders of magnitude over previous efforts, potentially opening a new window on particle physics. Mu2e is scheduled to begin commissioning with cosmic rays in 2025, with the first muon beam physics run starting in 2027. For more information about Mu2e see https://mu2e.fnal.gov/.
The Berkeley Mu2e team is responsible for several key aspects of the tracker, a precision detector that will measure particle momenta with the highest precision achieved to date, in the relevant range. The tracker is used to reconstruct the trajectory of electrons originating in an aluminum target mass in which muons are stopped. A dominant component of the electron momentum response is energy loss in the target itself which occurs in repeated intersections of the electron trajectory with the target.
Role: The student researcher will contribute both to a simulation framework simulating the propagation of muons and electrons through magnetic fields and their interactions with matter, and develop analysis scripts to quantify the energy loss for different geometric target designs, leading to an improved design which admits more precise measurement of the electron starting momentum.
The Berkeley Mu2e group consists of Senior Scientist David Brown, professor Yury Kolomensky, Staff Scientist Richie Bonventre, Research Scientist Vivek Singh, postdoc Ed Callaghan, and a number of students. Student researchers will be expected to meet regularly with senior researchers, as well as work independently and/or with each other. Meetings can be through zoom or (preferably) in person at Lawrence Berkeley Lab, which is reachable from UCB via a dedicated shuttle line.
Qualifications: Physics, Engineering Physics, Computer Science, or Data Science majors preferred; basic computer programming skills, with experience in python or C++, graphical data plotting tools, and linux is a plus.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Ed Callaghan, Staff Researcher
Hours: to be negotiated
Off-Campus Research Site: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, 1 Cyclotron Rd, Berkeley, CA
Related website: http://
Mathematical and Physical Sciences