The Quest for $\mu \to e\gamma$ and its Experimental Limiting Factors at Future High Intensity Muon Beams

Abstract

The search for the Lepton Flavor Violating decay $\mu \to e\gamma$ exploits the most intense continuous muon beams, which can currently deliver $\sim 10^8$ muons per second. In the next decade, accelerator upgrades are expected in various facilities, making it feasible to have continuous beams with an intensity of $10^9$ or even $10^{10}$ muons per second. We investigate the experimental limiting factors that will define the ultimate performances, and hence the sensitivity, in the search for $\mu \to e\gamma$ with a continuous beam at these extremely high rates. We then consider some conceptual detector designs and evaluate the corresponding sensitivity as a function of the beam intensity.

Comments: 14 pages, 4 figures, proceedings for the 7th International Conference on New Frontiers in Physics (ICNFP 2018), Kolymbari, Crete, Greece, 4-12 July 2018