Search

The Mu2e experiment will search for a Standard Model violating rate of neutrinoless conversion of a muon into an electron in the presence of an aluminum nucleus. Observation of this charged lepton flavor violating process would be an unambiguous sign of new physics. Mu2e will improve upon previous searches for this process by four orders of magnitude. This requires the world's highest-intensity muon beam, a detector system capable of efficiently reconstructing the 105 MeV/c conversion electron signal, and minimizing sensitivity to background events. A pulsed 8 GeV proton beam strikes a target, producing pions that decay into muons. Beam outside the pulse must be suppressed to $< 10^{-10}$ to reduce beam-related backgrounds. The muon beam is guided from the production target along the transport system and onto the aluminum stopping target. Conversion electrons leave the stopping target and propagate inside a solenoidal magnetic field to the tracker and electromagnetic calorimeter. The tracker is a system of straw tube panels filled with Ar/CO$_2$ at 1 atm that tracks particles inside of a solenoidal B-field and measures their momenta with $\sim100$ keV/$c$ resolution to resolve signal events from decay-in-orbit backgrounds. The CsI calorimeter provides $E/p$ and is used to seed the track reconstruction algorithm with $\sigma_E /E \sim{}10\%$ and $\sigma_t

Gaseous time projection chambers (TPCs) with high readout segmentation are capable of reconstructing detailed 3D ionization distributions of nuclear recoils resulting from elastic neutron scattering. Using a system of six compact TPCs with pixel ASIC readout, filled with a 70:30 mixture of He:CO$_2$ gas, we analyze the first directional measurements of beam-induced neutron backgrounds in the tunnel regions surrounding the Belle II detector at the SuperKEKB $e^+e^-$ collider. With the use of 3D recoil tracking, we show that these TPCs are capable of maintaining nearly $100\%$ nuclear recoil purity to reconstructed ionization energies ($E_\text{reco}$) as low as 5 $\mathrm{keV_\text{ee}}$. Using a large sample of simulated $^4$He, $^{12}$C, and $^{16}$O recoil tracks, we find consistency between predicted and measured recoil energy spectra in five of the six TPCs, providing useful validation of the neutron production mechanisms modeled in simulation. Restricting this sample to $^4$He recoil tracks with $E_\text{reco}>40$ $\mathrm{keV_\text{ee}}$, we demonstrate axial angular resolutions within $8^{\circ}$ and we introduce a procedure that under suitable conditions, correctly assigns the vector direction to $91\%$ of simulated $^4$He recoils. Applying this procedure to assign vector directions to measured $^4$He recoil tracks, we observe consistency between the angular distributions of observed and simulated recoils, providing first experimental evidence of localized neutron "hotspots" in the accelerator tunnel. Observed rates of nuclear recoils in these TPCs suggest that simulation overestimates the neutron flux from these hotspots., 21 pages, 19 figures. Accepted by Nuclear Instruments & Methods In Physics Research, A

We present results from the first deployment of novel, high definition, compact gas Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) with pixel chip readout as part of the BEAST II beam background measurement project at SuperKEKB. The TPCs provide detailed 3D imaging of ionization from neutron-induced nuclear recoils in a helium and carbon dioxide target gas mixture at standard temperature and pressure. We find excellent electron background rejection, leading to background-free nuclear recoil measurements above 50 keVee, despite the extreme high-background environment. We measure an angular resolution better than 20{\deg} for recoil tracks longer than 1.7 mm, corresponding to an average ionization energy of ~100 keVee. We also obtain the 3D vector direction of helium recoils by utilizing charge profile measurements along the recoil axis, with a correct head/tail assignment efficiency of approximately 80%. With this performance, we present comparisons between measured and simulated event rates, recoil energy spectra, and directional distributions originating from beam-gas and Touschek beam losses at SuperKEKB. We utilize head/tail recognition to distinguish neutron components travelling with positive radial velocity in the Belle II coordinate system from those with opposite directionality. Finally, we present a novel method of discriminating beam-gas interactions from Touschek beam losses that can eliminate the need for dedicated accelerator runs for background measurements. This method is still statistics-limited. However, future studies should be able to verify this method, which in turn could lead to neutron background analysis runs symbiotic with normal Belle II operation. The capabilities demonstrated here also suggest that high definition recoil imaging in gas TPCs is applicable to low energy, low-background experiments, such as directional dark matter searches.

The high design luminosity of the SuperKEKB electron-positron collider will result in challenging levels of beam-induced backgro\ unds in the interaction region. Understanding and mitigating these backgrounds is critical to the success of the Belle~II experi\ ment. We report on the first background measurements performed after roll-in of the Belle II detector, a period known as SuperKE\ KB Phase 2, utilizing both the BEAST II system of dedicated background detectors and the Belle II detector itself. We also repor\ t on first revisions to the background simulation made in response to our findings. Backgrounds measured include contributions f\ rom synchrotron radiation, beam-gas, Touschek, and injection backgrounds. At the end of Phase 2, single-beam backgrounds origina\ ting from the 4 GeV positron Low Energy Ring (LER) agree reasonably well with simulation, while backgrounds from the 7 GeV elect\ ron High Energy Ring (HER) are approximately one order of magnitude higher than simulation. We extrapolate these backgrounds for\ ward and conclude it is safe to install the Belle II vertex detector., Comment: 22 Pages, 33 figures

We present our most recent work on the use of integrated silicon pixel electronics to read out gas-filled Time Projection Chambers (TPCs). Such detectors have great promise to measure the direction and energy of neutral particles via nuclear recoils that ionize the gas. We report on ongoing studies and refinement of the first prototype constructed at the University of Hawaii. We present data on the detection of alpha particles and fast neutrons using Ar:CO 2 (70:30) and He:CO 2 (70:30) gas, respectively. We also present plans and sensitivity estimates for a future Dark Matter search based on the technology under study.