scholarly journals Muon to electron conversion: how to find an electron in a muon haystack

Author(s):  
A. Kurup

The standard model (SM) of particle physics describes how the Universe works at a fundamental level. Even though this theory has proven to be very successful over the past 50 years, we know it is incomplete. Many theories that go beyond the SM predict the occurrence of certain processes that are forbidden by the SM, such as muon to electron conversion. This paper will briefly review the history of muon to electron conversion and focus on the high-precision experiments currently being proposed, COMET (Coherent Muon to Electron Transition) and Mu2e, and a next-generation experiment, PRISM. The PRISM experiment intends to use a novel type of accelerator called a fixed-field alternating-gradient (FFAG) accelerator. There has recently been renewed interest in FFAGs for the Neutrino Factory and the Muon Collider, and because they have applications in many areas outside of particle physics, such as energy production and cancer therapy. The synergies between these particle physics experiments and other applications will also be discussed.

Author(s):  
Arttu Rajantie

The discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 and other results from the Large Hadron Collider have confirmed the standard model of particle physics as the correct theory of elementary particles and their interactions up to energies of several TeV. Remarkably, the theory may even remain valid all the way to the Planck scale of quantum gravity, and therefore it provides a solid theoretical basis for describing the early Universe. Furthermore, the Higgs field itself has unique properties that may have allowed it to play a central role in the evolution of the Universe, from inflation to cosmological phase transitions and the origin of both baryonic and dark matter, and possibly to determine its ultimate fate through the electroweak vacuum instability. These connections between particle physics and cosmology have given rise to a new and growing field of Higgs cosmology, which promises to shed new light on some of the most puzzling questions about the Universe as new data from particle physics experiments and cosmological observations become available. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Higgs cosmology’.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adib Rifqi Setiawan

Put simply, Lisa Randall’s job is to figure out how the universe works, and what it’s made of. Her contributions to theoretical particle physics include two models of space-time that bear her name. The first Randall–Sundrum model addressed a problem with the Standard Model of the universe, and the second concerned the possibility of a warped additional dimension of space. In this work, we caught up with Randall to talk about why she chose a career in physics, where she finds inspiration, and what advice she’d offer budding physicists. This article has been edited for clarity. My favourite quote in this interview is, “Figure out what you enjoy, what your talents are, and what you’re most curious to learn about.” If you insterest in her work, you can contact her on Twitter @lirarandall.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adib Rifqi Setiawan

Put simply, Lisa Randall’s job is to figure out how the universe works, and what it’s made of. Her contributions to theoretical particle physics include two models of space-time that bear her name. The first Randall–Sundrum model addressed a problem with the Standard Model of the universe, and the second concerned the possibility of a warped additional dimension of space. In this work, we caught up with Randall to talk about why she chose a career in physics, where she finds inspiration, and what advice she’d offer budding physicists. This article has been edited for clarity. My favourite quote in this interview is, “Figure out what you enjoy, what your talents are, and what you’re most curious to learn about.” If you insterest in her work, you can contact her on Twitter @lirarandall.


2021 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 279-313
Author(s):  
Gaia Lanfranchi ◽  
Maxim Pospelov ◽  
Philip Schuster

At the dawn of a new decade, particle physics faces the challenge of explaining the mystery of dark matter, the origin of matter over antimatter in the Universe, the apparent fine-tuning of the electroweak scale, and many other aspects of fundamental physics. Perhaps the most striking frontier to emerge in the search for answers involves New Physics at mass scales comparable to that of familiar matter—below the GeV scale but with very feeble interaction strength. New theoretical ideas to address dark matter and other fundamental questions predict such feebly interacting particles (FIPs) at these scales, and existing data may even provide hints of this possibility. Emboldened by the lessons of the LHC, a vibrant experimental program to discover such physics is underway, guided by a systematic theoretical approach that is firmly grounded in the underlying principles of the Standard Model. We give an overview of these efforts, their motivations, and the decadal goals that animate the community involved in the search for FIPs, and we focus in particular on accelerator-based experiments.


2019 ◽  
pp. 152-184
Author(s):  
Karen Bray

“Unreasoned Care” returns us to God through a sojourn with Foucault’s archives. This chapter queerly attends to how the Process God as Eros of the Universe might open us to a non-redemptive or counter-salvific and yet ethically attentive theology that sticks with the mad we’ve condemned, confined, and left unredeemed. Reading with Lynne Huffer’s re-engagement with Foucault’s History of Madness, this chapter argues for an ethics of care for the ghosts of those an emphasis on reason, straightness, saneness, health, and wealth have ransomed for the rise of the productive model citizen. Placing Foucault and Whitehead into conversation offers us a theo-ethic of grave attending to those ransomed for our redemption. Such an encounter helps us to acknowledge the past that has caused the world to be thus, and to salvage dreams of a world that can be otherwise.


1994 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 293-299
Author(s):  
G. Burbidge ◽  
F. Hoyle ◽  
J.V. Narlikar

The standard big bang cosmology has the universe created out of a primeval explosion that not only created matter and radiation but also spacetime itself. The big bang event itself cannot be discussed within the framework of a physical theory but the events following it are in principle considered within the scope of science. The recent developments on the frontier between particle physics and cosmology highlight the attempts to chart the history of the very early universe.


1988 ◽  
Vol 130 ◽  
pp. 63-65
Author(s):  
Gerhard Börner

The basic idea of inflation in cosmology is very simple: It is the assumption that the expansion factor R(t) of a Friedmann-Lemaltre cosmological model grows exponentially during a brief time interval in the very early universe. The phase of exponential growth is followed by a thermalizatlon stage and a subsequent “normal” evolution R(t)∼vt. This “Inflationary expansion“ can help to solve cosmological puzzles inherent in the standard model - such as the large-scale flatness, the horizon structure, the numerical value of the entropy in a comoving volume [for a review see Brandenberger 1985]. To turn this romantic idea of inflation into a quantitative model requires still a lot of work: The simple change in the thermal history of the universe must be derived from a fundamental particle theory. The models proposed so far do not inspire much confidence. In the following a few difficulties of the Higgs field idea, especially the Coleman-Weinberg formalism will be pointed out (section 1). In section 2 some problems connected with the investigation of initially strongly anisotropic or Inhomogeneous cosmological models will be mentioned.


Author(s):  
Евгения Викторовна Алёхина

В статье рассмотрены возникновение и развитие противоборствующих в философской мысли креационного и эволюционного объяснений происхождения Вселенной, жизни и разума. Обращаясь к анализу двух парадигм, автор показала, что они имеют длительную историю противостояния. В наше время, как и в прошлом, эта проблема сводится к альтернативе - либо эволюция как продукт слепой случайности, либо целенаправленное творчество Высшего Разума. В последнем случае есть два варианта: ортодоксальный и модернистский - «телеологический эволюционизм». Обосновывается, что современная постнеклассическая наука все больше определяется социальными, культурными и мировоззренческими основаниями. Одной из точек пересечения трех уровней научного знания является проблема происхождения мира. Противоположные варианты её решения имеют различное соотношение собственно научного (экспериментального) и мировоззренческого аспектов. Эволюционная гипотеза с позиции диалектического материализма не смогла преодолеть редукционизм и наивный реализм механистического подхода. Наличие в указанных парадигмах аксиологического компонента в той или иной степени утверждает или отрицает смысл жизни и достоинство личности. The article examines the emergence and development of the opposing creation and evolutionary explanations of the origin of the universe, life and mind in philosophical thought. Turning to the analysis of the two paradigms, the author showed that they have a long history of opposition. In our time, as in the past, this problem boils down to an alternative - either evolution as a product of blind chance, or purposeful creativity of the Higher Reason. In the latter case, there are two options: orthodox and modernist - «teleological evolutionism». It is substantiated that modern post-non-classical science is increasingly determined by social, cultural and ideological foundations. One of the intersection points of the three levels of scientific knowledge is the problem of the Origin of the World. Opposite solutions to its solution have a different ratio of the scientific (experimental) and worldview aspects. The evolutionary hypothesis could not overcome the reductionism and naive realism of the mechanistic approach from the standpoint of dialectical materialism. The presence of an axiological component in these paradigms, to one degree or another, affirms or denies the meaning of life and the dignity of the individual.


2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels C. M. Martens

AbstractAccording to the standard model of cosmology, $$\Lambda $$ Λ CDM, the mass-energy budget of the current stage of the universe is not dominated by the luminous matter that we are familiar with, but instead by some form of dark matter (and dark energy). It is thus tempting to adopt scientific realism about dark matter. However, there are barely any constraints on the myriad of possible properties of this entity—it is not even certain that it is a form of matter. In light of this underdetermination I advocate caution: we should not (yet) be dark matter realists. The “not(-yet)-realism” that I have in mind is different from Hacking’s (Philos Sci 56 (4), 555–581, 1989) anti-realism, in that it is semantic rather than epistemological. It also differs from the semantic anti-realism of logical empiricism, in that it is naturalistic, such that it may only be temporary and does not automatically apply to all other unobservables (or even just to all other astronomical unobservables, as with Hacking’s anti-realism). The argument is illustrated with the analogy of the much longer history of the concept of a gene, as the current state of the concept of dark matter resembles in some relevant ways that of the early concept of genes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (02) ◽  
pp. 1830003 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Ellis

The most important discovery in particle physics in recent years was that of the Higgs boson, and much effort is continuing to measure its properties, which agree obstinately with the Standard Model, so far. However, there are many reasons to expect physics beyond the Standard Model, motivated by the stability of the electroweak vacuum, the existence of dark matter and the origin of the visible matter in the Universe, neutrino physics, the hierarchy of mass scales in physics, cosmological inflation and the need for a quantum theory for gravity. Most of these issues are being addressed by the experiments during Run 2 of the LHC, and supersymmetry could help resolve many of them. In addition to the prospects for the LHC, I also review briefly those for direct searches for dark matter and possible future colliders.


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