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Molzon, W.

Publications and source records attributed to Molzon, W..

Performances of a new generation tracking detector: the MEG II cylindrical drift chamber

Abstract The cylindrical drift chamber is the most innovative part of the MEG II detector, the upgraded version of the MEG experiment. The MEG II chamber differs from the MEG one because it is a single volume cylindrical structure, instead of a segmented one, chosen to improve its resolutions and efficiency in detecting low energy positrons from muon decays at rest. In this paper, we show the characteristics and performances of this fundamental part of the MEG II apparatus and we discuss the impact of its higher resolution and efficiency on the sensitivity of the MEG II experiment. Because of its innovative structure and high quality resolution and efficiency the MEG II cylindrical drift chamber will be a cornerstone in the development of an ideal tracking detector for future positron-electron collider machines.

Physics↗

A search for $$\upmu ^+ \rightarrow \textrm{e}^+ \upgamma $$ with the first dataset of the MEG II experiment

Abstract The MEG II experiment, based at the Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland, reports the result of a search for the decay$$\upmu ^+ \rightarrow {\textrm{e}}^+ \upgamma $$ μ + → e + γ from data taken in the first physics run in 2021. No excess of events over the expected background is observed, yielding an upper limit on the branching ratio of$${\mathcal {B}} (\upmu ^+ \rightarrow {\textrm{e}}^+ \upgamma ) < 7.5 \times 10^{-13}$$ B ( μ + → e + γ ) < 7.5 × 10 - 13 (90% CL). The combination of this result and the limit obtained by MEG gives$${\mathcal {B}} (\upmu ^+ \rightarrow {\textrm{e}}^+ \upgamma ) < 3.1 \times 10^{-13}$$ B ( μ + → e + γ ) < 3.1 × 10 - 13 (90% CL), which is the most stringent limit to date. A ten-fold larger sample of data is being collected during the years 2022–2023, and data-taking will continue in the coming years.

Physics↗

Operation and performance of the MEG II detector

Abstract The MEG II experiment, located at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) in Switzerland, is the successor to the MEG experiment, which completed data taking in 2013. MEG II started fully operational data taking in 2021, with the goal of improving the sensitivity of the$$\upmu ^+ \rightarrow {\textrm{e}}^+ \upgamma $$ μ + → e + γ decay down to$$\sim 6 \times 10^{-14}$$ ∼ 6 × 10 - 14 almost an order of magnitude better than the current limit. In this paper, we describe the operation and performance of the experiment and give a new estimate of its sensitivity versus data acquisition time.

Physics↗

Novel X-ray scanning technique for in-situ alignment of photo-detectors in the MEGII calorimeter

Here, we describe and show results of a novel technique to measure with high precision the positions of photodetectors installed in the upgraded liquid xenon calorimeter of the MEG II experiment. The measurement was done by detecting the signal in individual photo-detectors as the front surface of the calorimeter was scanned in axial (Z) and azimuthal (Φ) directions with a precisely controlled, thin, collimated beam of X-rays obtained from a 57 CoX-ray source. The measurements were made when the calorimeter was cold and operational, under which conditions they could not otherwise be made. This technique is used to check for changes in the photodetector positions due to the effects of cooling and thermal cycling of the support structure and to provide a reference between the positions of the operational photodetectors and alignment markers on the cryostat exterior. The use of an essentially monochromatic X-ray source allowed ancillary measurements of photodetector properties, including pulse shape, relative gain, and variation in response over the photodetector surface. Measurement uncertainties below 0.6mm in Z and 0.7 mrad in Φ have been achieved, well within the requirements for the MEG II performance.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Search for lepton flavour violating muon decay mediated by a new light particle in the MEG experiment

We present the first direct search for lepton flavour violating muon decay mediated by a new light particle X, μ + → e + X,X → γγ . This search uses a dataset resulting from 7.5 × 10 14 stopped muons collected by the MEG experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institut in the period 2009–2013. No significant excess is found in the mass region 20–45 MeV/c 2 for lifetimes below 40 ps, and we set the most stringent branching ratio upper limits in the mass region of 20–40 MeV/c 2 , down to O(10 –11 ) at 90% confidence level.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗