187 research outputs found
PEN: a low energy test of lepton universality
Allowed charged meson decays are characterized by simple dynamics, few
available decay channels, mainly into leptons, and extremely well controlled
radiative and loop corrections. In that sense, pion decays represent a
veritable triumph of the standard model (SM) of elementary particles and
interactions. This relative theoretical simplicity makes charged pion decays a
sensitive means for testing the underlying symmetries and the universality of
weak fermion couplings, as well as for studying pion structure and chiral
dynamics. Even after considerable recent improvements, experimental precision
is lagging far behind that of the theoretical description for pion decays. We
review the current state of experimental study of the pion electronic decay
, or , where the
indicates inclusion and explicit treatment of radiative decay events. We
briefly review the limits on non-SM processes arising from the present level of
experimental precision in decays. Focusing on the PEN
experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland, we examine the
prospects for further improvement in the near term.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures; paper presented at the XIII International
Conference on Heavy Quarks and Leptons, 22-27 May 2016, Blacksburg, Virginia,
US
PEN experiment: a precise measurement of the pi+ -> e+ nu decay branching fraction
A new measurement of , the decay
branching ratio, is currently under way at the Paul Scherrer Institute. The
present experimental result on constitutes the most accurate test
of lepton universality available. The accuracy, however, still lags behind the
theoretical precision by over an order of magnitude. Because of the large
helicity suppression of the decay, its branching ratio is
susceptible to significant contributions from new physics, making this decay a
particularly suitable subject of study.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, talk given at the Tenth Conference on the
Intersections of Particle and Nuclear Physics (CIPANP 2009), La Jolla/San
Diego, CA, 26-31 May 2009; to appear in Proceedings to be published by the
American Institute of Physic
Изотопный состав кислорода и водорода повторно-жильных льдов Центрального Ямала
New data on the distribution of the isotopes δ18О and δD of ice wedges in Central Yamal are presented. In the summer of 2019, the massive wedge ice was studied in the thermal circus of the third marine terrace. On the surface of the terrace, polygonal-vein relief is common with a polygon size of about 10–20 m. The largest ice wedge № 1 in the upper part was 1.5 m wide, and its visible depth in the outcrop amounted to 2.3 m. Perpendicular to this wedge, another one № 2 was opened with a width of 60 cm, and 20 m from them the wedge № 3 was opened along the strike. At the level of the head of the wedge № 1, radiocarbon AMS dating was performed based on a sample of host deposits, which showed that the ice in the upper part was about 13 thousand years old (the ice age was of 13.6 cal. BP). According to the isotopic characteristics (average values of δ18О = −24.8, and δD = −187.6 ‰), the ice corresponds to the Yamal ice-wedge ice, which was formed during the MIS‑2 isotopic stage (the end of the Late Pleistocene). The isotopic composition of oxygen indicates temperatures of the cold period of the vein formation from −22.8 to −26.8 °C (on average 7 °C colder than the present-day) and the January temperatures from −34.2 to −40.2 °C (on average 10 °C colder than the present-day). For some ice samples (11 out of 43), high values of deuterium excesses (dexc = 12÷17 ‰) were observed, which is unusual for this type of ice. A few examples of high dexc values of ice wedges are mentioned in the literature for sections of Seyakha yedoma, Cape Sabler and Bolshoi Lyakhovsky Island, and note that for the ice dated to the Late Pleistocene. The deuterium excess values may reflect the unstable climatic conditions of the Late Pleistocene associated with changes in the vapor source and the trajectories of the air masses over the continent.Приведены новые данные о распределении δ18О и δD в повторно-жильном льду Центрального Ямала. По своим изотопным характеристикам (средние значения δ18О = −24,8, а δD = −187,6 ‰) лёд соответствует жильным льдам Ямала, которые формировались в изотопную стадию МИС‑2 (конец позднего плейстоцена). Для некоторых образцов льда отмечены высокие значения дейтериевого эксцесса (dexc = 12÷17 ‰), что нехарактерно для этого типа льдов. Немногочисленные свидетельства высоких значений dexc в позднеплейстоценовом жильном льду описаны в литературе для раз‑ резов р. Сеяха, мыса Саблера и о. Большой Ляховский
Precise Measurement of the Pi+ -> Pi0 e+ nu Branching Ratio
Using a large acceptance calorimeter and a stopped pion beam we have made a
precise measurement of the rare Pi+ -> Pi0 e+ Nu,(pi_beta) decay branching
ratio. We have evaluated the branching ratio by normalizing the number of
observed pi_beta decays to the number of observed Pi+ -> e+ Nu, (pi_{e2})
decays. We find the value of Gamma(Pi+ -> Pi0 e+ Nu)/Gamma(total) = [1.036 +/-
0.004(stat.) +/- 0.004(syst.) +/- 0.003(pi_{e2})] x 10^{-8}$, where the first
uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic, and the third is the pi_{e2}
branching ratio uncertainty. Our result agrees well with the Standard Model
prediction.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, revtex4; changed content; updated
analysi
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