WIDG Seminar: Kim Siang Khaw, University of Washington, “Muon g-2: a gateway to new physics beyond the Standard Model”

Event time: 
Tuesday, May 22, 2018 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Location: 
Wright Lab (WL), 216 See map
272 Whitney Avenue
New Haven, CT 06511
Event description: 

The Standard Model (SM) of particle physics has been strikingly successful in explaining a wide range of physical phenomena and almost all experimental results. One of the most significant discrepancies at present is the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon (muon g-2), which was measured by the E821 collaboration at BNL in 2004 to be more than three-standard-deviation greater than the SM prediction. Various models beyond SM physics have been proposed to explain this discrepancy, but the key to resolving this tension remains a more precise measurement of muon g-2. The Muon g-2 collaboration at Fermilab aims to measure muon g-2 with a precision goal of 140 parts per billion, a fourfold improvement over BNL’s result. If the central values of the experimental result and the theoretical prediction remain unchanged, the discrepancy will exceed seven standard deviations which would be a clear indication of physics beyond SM. In this seminar, an overview of the experiment will be given together with preliminary results from the ongoing physics data taking, especially on the measurement of the muon anomalous precession frequency using lead fluoride calorimeters.

Open to: 
undergraduate