Data Acquisition and Analysis for the MUonE Pilot Run

Since the discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN in 2012, the attention of the scientific community has turned to discovering Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics. The LHC experiments so far have not had a definitive BSM discovery, focusing the community beyond Collider Experiments. One such experiment is the muon g-2 measurement, which measures the intrinsic magnetic moments of the muon.

The magnetic moment of the muon shows hints of BSM as announced recently at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. One of the limitations of that experiment is the theoretical uncertainties in the hadronic coupling of the muon. This award means to correct that by direct measurement of the muon anomalous magnetic moment through muon-electron elastic scattering.

This measurement in the CERN 150 GeV muon beam will use hardware being developed for the CMS experiment upgrade. The project will allow direct involvement of students and early-career post docs in all phases of the experiment, contributing to the development of the future workforce.

To achieve the necessary precision, sophisticated silicon sensors and readout electronics being developed for the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) upgrade will be used to make precise vertex and angular track resolution measurements to allow the measurement of the anomalous magnetic moment and, in particular, how this magnetic moment varies with transverse energy transfer in the muon-electron scattering. This could reduce the overall uncertainty that currently limits the interpretation of the FNAL g-2 experiment.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.