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DOE OSTI2025

A data-driven method to estimate the antiproton background in the Mu2e experiment

The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will search for the Charged Lepton Flavour Violating (CLFV) process of coherent, neutrinoless µ− → e − conversion in the field of an aluminum nucleus. The expected signal is a monochromatic electron with the energy of 104.97 MeV, slightly below the muon rest mass. Observation of a CLFV process would provide unambiguous evidence for Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics. Mu2e is sensitive to a wide range of BSM models and has the capability to distinguish between them, guiding us towards the most accurate models. The key features of the Mu2e experiment are: (1) a high intensity pulsed negative muon beam with about 1010 stopped µ −/s, and (2) a sophisticated superconducting solenoid system with a gradient magnetic field to form and guide the intense muon beam to the target. The Mu2e physics data taking is expected to begin in 2027. For Run I, the expected 5σ discovery sensitivity is Rµe = 1.2 × 10−15, with a total expected background of 0.11 ± 0.03 events. In the absence of a signal, the expected upper limit is Rµe < 6.2 × 10−16 at 90% CL. The success of this experiment hinges on the accurate estimation of the background from various SM processes that could provide signal-like electrons. One of the background processes is antiprotons annihilating in the stopping target to produce signal like electrons through π0 → γγ decays followed by γ conversions, and π− → µ−ν¯ decays followed by µ− decay. It is a relatively small background with large uncertainty (100%) due to the lack of antiproton production cross section information for the Mu2e proton beam energy of 8 GeV. We have developed a novel methodology to estimate the antiproton background in-situ. This forms the main theme of the thesis. We observed that at Mu2e energies, antiproton annihilation in the stopping target is the only source of events with multiple, simultaneous particle trajectories. From Geant4 simulations, only about 0.2% of the simulated antiproton annihilation events have a signal-like electron. Meanwhile, ∼ 5% of events have multiple reconstructible particle tracks per event. Therefore, we have devised a methodology to reconstruct the multi-track events and estimate the antiproton background by exploiting the large ratio of the production rates of the two final states.

Chithirasreemadam, Namitha [Pisa U.] (ORCID:000000↗

DOE OSTI2024

Planar XY magnetic glass state in the Gd 2 ScNbO 7 pyrochlore

Here a spin glass system with emergent planar ordered spin clusters is investigated. The mixed B-site pyrochlore Gd 2 ScNbO 7 has been synthesized and characterized through a variety of techniques, including x-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility, muon spin relaxation, heat capacity and neutron scattering. Despite a Curie–Weiss temperature of -3.93(3) K, indicating net antiferromagnetic interactions, no signs of long ranged magnetic ordering are found down to T = 0.3 K. Instead, a disordered magnetic state emerges with a small correlation length of 2.1(1) Å of single tetrahedra. A Reverse Monte Carlo analysis of the polarized neutron scattering data reveals short-range antiferromagnetic order with emergent XY spin ordering similar to the parent pyrochlore compounds. Muon spin relaxation, and AC susceptibility measurements confirm that the magnetization condenses into a glass, with 10 % of the potential entropy missing in the specific heat. This magnetic ground state is similar to what is observed in Gd 2 Sn 2 O 7 just above the ordering temperature, without the eventual long-range ordering at low temperature.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2024

Atomic binding corrections for high-energy fixed target experiments

High-energy beams incident on a fixed target may scatter against atomic electrons. To a first approximation, one can treat these electrons as free and at rest. For precision experiments, however, it is important to be able to estimate the size of, and when necessary calculate, subleading corrections. We discuss atomic binding corrections to relativistic lepton-electron scattering. We analyze hydrogen in detail, before generalizing our analysis to multi-electron atoms. Using the virial theorem, and many-body sum rules, we find that the corrections can be reduced to measured binding energies, and the expectation value of a single one-body operator. We comment on the phenomenological impact for neutrino flux normalization and an extraction of hadronic vacuum polarization from elastic muon electron scattering at MUonE.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Measurements of electroweak W ± Z boson pair production in association with two jets in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Measurements of integrated and diferential cross-sections for electroweak W ± Z production in association with two jets (W ± Zjj) in proton-proton collisions are presented. The data collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider from 2015 to 2018 at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV are used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb -1 . The W ± Zjj candidate events are reconstructed using leptonic decay modes of the gauge bosons. Events containing three identifed leptons, either electrons or muons, and two jets are selected. Processes involving pure electroweak W ± Zjj production at Born level are separated from W ± Zjj production involving a strong coupling. The measured integrated fducial cross-section of electroweak W ± Zjj production per lepton favour is σ W Zjj-EW→ℓ' νℓℓjj = 0.368 ± 0.037 (stat.) ± 0.059 (syst.) ± 0.003 (lumi.) fb, where ℓ and ℓ' are either an electron or a muon. Respective cross-sections of electroweak and strong W ± Zjj production are measured separately for events with exactly two jets or with more than two jets, and in three bins of the invariant mass of the two jets. The inclusive W ± Zjj production cross-section, without separating electroweak and strong production, is also measured to be σ W Zjj→ℓ ' νℓℓjj = 1.462 ± 0.063 (stat.) ± 0.118 (syst.) ± 0.012 (lumi.) fb, per lepton favour. The inclusive W ± Zjj production cross-section is measured diferentially for several kinematic observables. Finally, the measurements are used to constrain anomalous quartic gauge couplings by extracting 95% confdence level intervals on dimension-8 operators.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Search for dimuon resonance in the 35 to 75 GeV mass range using 140 fb−1 of 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A model-independent search for low-mass resonances decaying into pairs of oppositely charged muons is presented. The analysis uses proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1, recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018. The search targets hypothetical dimuon resonances in the invariant mass range from 35 GeV to 75 GeV. The modelling of this mass region is particularly challenging for conventional analytic background parameterisations. To address this, a Gaussian process regression technique is used to model the background. The dimuon mass spectrum is analysed for potential signals, and no statistically significant excess is observed. Upper limits at the 95% confidence level are set on the fiducial production cross-section of new resonances decaying promptly into muons, ranging from 20 fb to 110 fb, depending on the resonance mass. These results are further interpreted in the context of dark-photon and dark-matter-mediator models, leading to new constraints on their parameter spaces.

Aad, G↗

DOE OSTI2026

Measurement and effective field theory interpretation of the photon-fusion production cross section of a pair of W bosons in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13 $ TeV

This analysis presents an observation of the photon-fusion production of W boson pairs using the CMS detector at the LHC. The total cross section of the W + W − production in photon fusion is measured using proton-proton collision data with an integrated luminosity of 138 fb −1 collected with the CMS detector in 2016–2018 at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13 $ TeV. Events are selected in the final state with one isolated electron and one isolated muon, and no additional tracks associated with the electron-muon production vertex. The total and fiducial production cross sections are 643$^{+82}_{–78}$ fb and 3.96$^{+0.53}_{–0.51}$ fb, respectively, in agreement with the standard model predictions of 631 ± 126 fb and 3.87 ± 0.77 fb. This agreement enables stringent constraints on anomalous quartic gauge couplings within a dimension-8 effective field theory framework.

Hadron-Hadron Scattering↗

DOE OSTI2025

Measurement of double-differential charged-current Drell-Yan cross-sections at high transverse masses in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a first measurement of the cross-section for the charged-current Drell-Yan process pp → W ± → ℓ ± ν above the resonance region, where ℓ is an electron or muon. The measurement is performed for transverse masses, $m$$^{W}_{T}$, between 200 GeV and 5000 GeV, using a sample of 140 fb −1 of pp collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of = 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2015–2018. The data are presented single differentially in transverse mass and double differentially in transverse mass and absolute lepton pseudorapidity. A test of lepton flavour universality shows no significant deviations from the Standard Model. The electron and muon channel measurements are combined to achieve a total experimental precision of 3% at low $m$$^{W}_{T}$. The single- and double differential W-boson charge asymmetries are evaluated from the measurements. A comparison to next-to-next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions using several recent parton distribution functions and including next-to-leading-order electroweak effects indicates the potential of the data to constrain parton distribution functions. The data are also used to constrain four fermion operators in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory formalism, in particular the lepton-quark operator Wilson coefficient $c$$^{(c)}_{ℓq}$.

Hadron-Hadron Scattering↗

DOE OSTI2024

PICOSEC-Micromegas Detector, an innovative solution for Lepton Time Tagging

The PICOSEC-Micromegas (PICOSEC-MM) detector is a novel gaseous detector designed for precise timing resolution in experimental measurements. It eliminates time jitter from charged particles in ionization gaps by using extreme UV Cherenkov light emitted in a crystal, detected by a Micromegas photodetector with an appropriate photocathode. The first single-channel prototype tested in 150 GeV/c muon beams achieved a timing resolution below 25 ps, a significant improvement compared to standard Micropattern Gaseous Detectors (MPGDs). This work explores the specifications for applying these detectors in monitored neutrino beams for the ENUBET Project. Key aspects include exploring resistive technologies, resilient photocathodes, and scalable electronics. New 7-pad resistive detectors are designed to handle the particle flux. In this paper, two potential scenarios are briefly considered: tagging electromagnetic showers with a timing resolution below 30ps in an electromagnetic calorimeter as well as individual particles (mainly muons) with about 20ps respectively.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2025

Status of the Mu2e experiment

The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab searches for the coherent, neutrino-less conversion of a μ − to e − in the Coulomb field of Al nuclei, that represents one of the cleanest Charged Lepton Flavor Violating (CLFV) processes for exploring Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics. Mu2e aims to improve previous sensitivity by four orders of magnitude, with a distinctive signature provided by identifying mono-energetic electrons with energy slightly below the muon rest mass. To reach this goal, the experiment will use the highest intensity pulsed muon beam in the world, with up to 6 × 1 0 9 stopped muons/sec. This is achieved using the Fermilab proton beam and the design and realization of a unique 25 m long superconducting solenoidal system. The high beam intensity relies upon minimizing beam losses in the slow extraction region, indicating an opportunity of using bent crystals for shadowing. A high-resolution straw tracker and a fast CsI crystal calorimeter identify the conversion electron. Both detectors are inserted behind the Stopping Target in the last solenoid section. A Cosmic Ray Veto covers a large part of the solenoids to suppress background produced by cosmic rays. In this paper, we report the details of the experimental layout, the construction status of the magnetic system and detectors, and a short description of the simulation and realization of the bent crystals. Performing crystal channeling in front of the first slow extraction septa will allow beam shadowing and largely reduce beam losses. •Charge Lepton Flavor Violation processes: μ − → e − conversion.•Large Superconducting Solenoid system.•High-Intensity beams•High precision detectors.•Crystal channeling.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2025

The MUSE beamline calorimeter

The MUon Scattering Experiment (MUSE) was motivated by the proton radius puzzle arising from the discrepancy between muonic hydrogen spectroscopy and electron–proton measurements. The MUSE physics goals also include testing lepton universality, precisely measuring two-photon exchange contribution, and testing radiative corrections. MUSE addresses these physics goals through simultaneous measurement of high precision cross sections for electron–proton and muon–proton scattering using a mixed-species beam. The experiment will run at both positive and negative beam polarities. Measuring precise cross sections requires understanding both the incident beam energy and the radiative corrections. For this purpose, a lead-glass calorimeter was installed at the end of the beam line in the MUSE detector system. Here, in this article, we discuss the detector specifications, calibration and performance. We demonstrate that the detector performance is well reproduced by simulation, and meets experimental requirements.

Calorimeter↗

DOE OSTI2025

The Mu2e straw tracker detector status and prototype results

The Mu2e experiment will search for charge-lepton flavor violating (CLFV) muon to electron conversion. It aims to achieve a four-orders of magnitude improvement in sensitivity over previous experiments, allowing it to probe new physics at mass scales up to 10 4 TeV . A precision momentum measurement is needed to resolve the monoenergetic electron that is the signal of CLFV conversion from muon decay-in-orbit backgrounds. Here, this is achieved in Mu2e using a low-mass cylindrical straw tracker operated in vacuum, consisting of 21,000 thin-wall mylar straws held at tension. The Mu2e tracker is now in production and will be completed during 2025. We will discuss the design and status of the experiment and the tracker detector, and show results from data taken with the first tracker module.

Gaseous detector↗

DOE OSTI2026

The MUSE Target Chamber Post Veto

The Muon Scattering Experiment (MUSE) was developed to address the proton radius puzzle through simultaneous electron–proton and muon-proton scattering using the Paul Scherrer Institute’s πM1 secondary beamline. MUSE uses a large-solid-angle, non-magnetic spectrometer to detect beam particles scattering from a liquid hydrogen cell contained within a vacuum chamber. Due to the large scattering windows, the structural integrity of the chamber is supported by posts located at small scattering angles. While out of the acceptance, particles in the tails of the beam distribution can strike these posts, causing a significant trigger background. We describe the design and performance of the Target Chamber Post Veto (TCPV) detector installed inside the vacuum chamber to remove these background events at the trigger level.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2026

Qualifying LaBr3:Ce+Sr detector performance for the Mu2e experiment at Fermilab Using the ELBE Accelerator

A LaBr3:Ce+Sr detector will be used to measure the stopped muon captures at the Mu2e experiment at Fermilab. It has been benchmarked in a test beam experiment performed at the ELBE electron accelerator located at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Germany. ELBE’s pulsed bremsstrahlung beam line was set to deliver an average γ -ray energy of between 4–5 MeV. The detector response was mapped to match Mu2e beam conditions, including rates up to 1 Mcps, energy flux, and time structure. A radioactive calibration source was used to mimic the characteristic 1808.7 keV γ -ray, emitted during the atomic muon nuclear capture in the Mu2e aluminum stopping target. The detector energy resolution was measured as a function of the average energy flux: up to 1 TeV/s for 0.34 s, the steady-operation beam-on time and up to 4 TeV/s for 5 ms to get a conservative estimate of the effect of high intensity Mu2e beam fluctuations. The PMT gain variation as a function of the beam spill length and average intensity has been parametrized and corrected for. When a PMT gain correction corresponding to the average beam-spill intensity is applied, the residual effect of beam intensity fluctuations around the average degrades the energy resolution, σ E γ /E γ , at 1808.7 keV from 0.66% to 0.83%.

Huang, Shihua [Purdue U., West Lafayette]↗

DOE OSTI2025

Measurement of the W boson decay branching fraction ratio $\mathscr{B}$(W → cq)/$\mathscr{B}$(W →$q\bar{q}'$) in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

The most precise measurement to date of the W boson hadronic decay branching fraction ratio $R_{c}^{W} = \mathcal{B}(W \to cq) / \mathcal{B}(W \to q\bar{q}$) is presented. The measurement is based on a sample of proton-proton collision data from the CERN LHC collected by the CMS experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV in 2016-2018 with an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The large cross section of top quark-antiquark production at the LHC offers a sizable high-purity sample of W bosons suitable for this measurement. Events with one charged lepton (electron or muon) and at least four jets, two tagged as bottom quark jets, are analyzed. Charm jets are tagged using the presence of a muon inside the jet. The result, $R_\mathrm{c}^\mathrm{W}$ = 0.489 $\pm$ 0.020, is consistent with the standard model prediction and is twice as precise as the current world-average value.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Flavor-changing Lorentz and CPT violation in muonic atoms

Flavor-changing signatures of Lorentz and CPT violation involving muon-electron conversions in muonic atoms are studied using effective field theory. Constraints on coefficients for Lorentz violation at parts in 10 -12 GeV −1 for flavor-changing electromagnetic muon decays and parts in 10 -13 GeV −2 for flavor-changing 4-point quark-lepton interactions are extracted using existing data from the SINDRUM II experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute. Estimates are provided for sensitivities attainable in the forthcoming experiments Mu2e at Fermilab and COMET at the Japan Proton Accelerator Complex.

Alan Kostelecký, V. [Indiana Univ., Bloomington, I↗

DOE OSTI2025

Search for Higgs boson exotic decays into Lorentz-boosted light bosons in the four-τ final state at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 with the ATLAS detector

A search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson into a pair of low-mass scalars that subsequently decay into τ-leptons, H → aa → τ + τ – τ + τ – , is presented. In models with Yukawa-like couplings, the decay to τ-leptons is favoured for light a-bosons, with mass in the range of 2m τ < m a < 2m b . Results are presented in the range of 4 GeV < m a < 15 GeV using the 140 fb –1 of proton–proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. This search focuses on the scenario where, for both di-τ pairs, one of the τ-leptons decays to hadrons and neutrinos, while the other decays to a muon and neutrinos. In this mass range, the a → τ + τ – is Lorentz-boosted and a dedicated muon removal technique is used to reconstruct the di-τ pairs.

BSM Higgs↗

DOE OSTI2026

Clash of the titans: ultra-high energy KM3NeT event versus IceCube data

KM3NeT has reported the detection of a remarkably high-energy through-going muon. Lighting up about a third of the detector, this muon likely originated from a neutrino exceeding 10 PeV in energy. The crucial question we need to answer is where this event comes from and what its source is. Intriguingly, IceCube has been operating with a much larger effective area for a considerably longer time, yet it has not reported neutrinos above 10 PeV. We quantify the tension between the KM3NeT event and the absence of similar high-energy events in IceCube under various assumptions of the origin for the neutrino including the isotropic diffuse flux, cosmogenic flux, and a steady or transient point source. Through a detailed analysis, we determine the most likely neutrino energy to be in the range of 23 – 2400 PeV, and find a tension between the experiments ranging from 3.6 to 3.1 σ for diffuse origins and 2.9 to 2.0 σ for point sources. The lack of observation of high-energy events in IceCube seriously challenges the explanation of this event coming from any known diffuse fluxes. Our results indicate the KM3NeT event is likely the first observation of a new astrophysical source.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Static magnetic order with strong quantum fluctuations in spin-1/2 honeycomb magnet Na 2 Co 2 TeO 6

Kitaev interactions, arising from the interplay of frustration and bond anisotropy, can lead to strong quantum fluctuations and, in an ideal case, to a quantum-spin-liquid state. However, in many nonideal materials, spurious non-Kitaev interactions typically promote a zigzag antiferromagnetic order in the d-orbital transition-metal compounds. Here, by combining neutron scattering with muon-spin rotation and relaxation techniques, we provide mechanism insights into the exotic properties of Na 2 Co 2 TeO 6 , a candidate material of the Kitaev model. Below T N , the zero-field muon-spin relaxation rate becomes almost constant (~0.45 μs –1 ). We attribute this temperature-independent relaxation rate to the strong quantum fluctuations, as well as to the frustrated Kitaev interactions. As the magnetic field increases, neutron scattering data indicate a broader spin-wave excitation at the K-point. Therefore, quantum fluctuations seem not only robust but are even enhanced by the applied magnetic field. Our findings provide valuable hints for understanding the onset of the quantum-spin-liquid state in Kitaev materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗