Status of the search for a muon EDM using the frozen-spin technique

Despite the many successes of the Standard Model of particle physics, there are still several physical observations that it cannot explain, such as the matter-antimatter asymmetry, non-zero neutrino masses, and the microscopic nature of dark matter. To address these limitations, extensions to the standard model are necessary, and searches for electric dipole moments (EDMs) of leptons are valuable test. The search for a muon EDM is the only search on a bare lepton of the second generation, complementing the searches for an EDM of the electron using polar molecules. A non-zero EDM of the muon would indicate Charge-Parity symmetry violation beyond the standard model. A dedicated experimental search for the muon EDM is being set up at PSI using the frozen-spin technique. In this technique, the anomalous spin precession of the muons in a storage ring is suppressed by applying an electric field in the radial direction. The muon EDM experiment will take place in two phases: the first phase will demonstrate the frozen-spin technique using a precursor experiment with 28 MeV/c muons, while the second phase will make use of 125 MeV/c muons, which could search for the muon EDM with a sensitivity of 6 × 10-23 e·cm. In this talk, we describe the precursor experiment at PSI and provide an update on the status of the experiment

Test of ITER conductors in SULTAN: an update

The ITER Toroidal Field (TF) conductor qualification phase has been carried out by testing short sample prototype conductors in the SULTAN test facility. This phase, started in 2007, has been substantially completed after minor adjustment of the conductor specification and test procedures. All the parties involved in the TF conductor procurement passed the qualification phase. Starting 2010, the samples for TF process qualification phase are tested in SULTAN. A summary of the results for all the ITER Qualification samples and an updated statistics are presented for the V-I and V-T characteristics of the cable-in-conduit conductors (CICC), including Nb3Sn and NbTi samples assembled with either a "bottom joint" or a "U-bend"

Sensitivity Analysis of Tcs Measurement on ITER TF Conductors

The measurement of current sharing temperature of Cable in Conduit Conductors is the main test for the acceptance of superconducting cables for the ITER Project. This temperature is defined as the one at which the average electric field along the cable reaches a critical value of 10 microV/m. Due to the complexity of the measurement, the evaluation of Tcs from the experimental results is not straightforward. Different techniques of elaboration of the raw experimental data can result in rather different estimations of Tcs. The aim of this work is to elaborate a standardized procedure of data treatment to be applied to all measurements. To this purpose, the assessment of the impact of the different measurement methodologies and data treatment techniques applied in the procedure is very important. A sensitivity analysis is therefore presented, to evaluate the influence on the final evaluation of of the main parameters and methodologies involved in the proposed procedure

Test of ITER conductors in SULTAN: an update

The ITER Toroidal Field (TF) conductor qualification phase has been carried out by testing short sample prototype conductors in the SULTAN test facility. This phase, started in 2007, has been substantially completed after minor adjustment of the conductor specification and test procedures. All the parties involved in the TF conductor procurement passed the qualification phase. Starting 2010, the samples for TF process qualification phase are tested in SULTAN. A summary of the results for all the ITER Qualification samples and an updated statistics are presented for the V-I and V-T characteristics of the cable-in-conduit conductors (CICC), including Nb3Sn and NbTi samples assembled with either a "bottom joint" or a "U-bend"

Preparations for a search of the muon EDM at PSI

Electric dipole moments (EDMs) of fundamental particles violate time invariance and the combined symmetry of charge and parity (CP). The existence of a large muon EDM (muEDM) is made plausible by tensions with Standard Model predictions for semileptonic decays of heavy meson measured at LHCb, BaBar, and Belle, as well as the muon’s anomalous magnetic moment (AMM). A discovery of the muEDM would manifest CP and lepton flavor universality (LFU) violation, revealing physics beyond the SM (BSM). The most sensitive muEDM search to date provides an upper limit of 1.8 × 10−19 e cm (CL 95%), extracted from high-precision data collected to measure the muon AMM. At the Paul Scherrer Institute, we are setting up a dedicated search for the muEDM using, for the first time, the frozen-spin technique to target an ultimate sensitivity better than 6 × 10−23 e cm. This novel technique increases the sensitivity to EDM-induced spin precession by cancelling the AMM-induced precession with the application of a precisely tuned electric field perpendicular to the muon momentum and the magnetic field. In this configuration, the dominant source of precession is the EDM coupling to the large relativistic electric field in the muon rest frame, generated by its motion in a strong 3 T uniform magnetic field. In a precursor experiment, we will apply the frozen-spin technique in a compact solenoid demonstrating a sensitivity of better than 3 × 10−21 e cm, probing uncharted and otherwise inaccessible territory in BSM theories

Mechanical Structure for the PSI Canted-Cosine-Theta (CCT) Magnet Program

The Canted-Cosine-Theta (CCT) technology has the potential, by its intrinsic stress-management, to lower coil stresses in high-field accelerator magnets. This is especially relevant for Nb3Sn magnets, which may be subject to irreversible degradation if the coil stresses exceed critical values. The internal structure of CCT coils, however, dilutes the engineering current density. For an efficient design, the internal structure, therefore, needs to be reduced to the limit given by the computer-numerical-control machining capabilities. In that case, however, additional mechanical stiffness must be provided by an external mechanical structure. The mechanical structure for the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) CCT program, which is described in this paper, is based on the bladder and key concept. The CCT-specific deviations from the prevalent bladder and key implementations are discussed. In addition, a two-dimensional and three-dimensional analysis in all stages of loading, cooling, and powering of the first PSI magnet prototype, as well as a tolerance analysis, is reported

Mechanical Structure for the PSI Canted-Cosine-Theta (CCT) Magnet Program

The Canted-Cosine-Theta (CCT) technology has the potential, by its intrinsic stress-management, to lower coil stresses in high-field accelerator magnets. This is especially relevant for Nb Sn magnets, which may be subject to irreversible degradation if the coil stresses exceed critical values. The internal structure of CCT coils, however, dilutes the engineering current density. For an efficient design, the internal structure, therefore, needs to be reduced to the limit given by the computer-numerical-control machining capabilities. In that case, however, additional mechanical stiffness must be provided by an external mechanical structure. The mechanical structure for the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) CCT program, which is described in this paper, is based on the bladder and key concept. The CCT-specific deviations from the prevalent bladder and key implementations are discussed. In addition, a two-dimensional and three-dimensional analysis in all stages of loading, cooling, and powering of the first PSI magnet prototype, as well as a tolerance analysis, is reported.