Compact Muon Production and Collection Scheme for High-Energy Physics Experiments

TL;DR

This paper presents a compact muon production and collection scheme that enhances the efficiency of muon capture and transport for high-energy physics experiments, particularly neutrino research, by manipulating phase-space and reducing secondary particle activation.

Contribution

It introduces a fast, efficient method for manipulating pion-muon beams and a handling system to reduce secondary particle activation, improving muon source design for physics experiments.

Findings

Enhanced muon capture efficiency demonstrated

Reduced secondary particle activation achieved

Potential application in neutrino experiments identified

Abstract

The relative immunity of muons to synchrotron radiation suggests that they might be used in place of electrons as probes in fundamental high-energy physics experiments. Muons are commonly produced indirectly through pion decay by interaction of a charged particle beam with a target. However, the large angle and energy dispersion of the initial beams as well as the short muon lifetime limits many potential applications. Here, we describe a fast method for manipulating the longitudinal and transverse phase-space of a divergent pion-muon beam to enable efficient capture and downstream transport with minimum losses. We also discuss the design of a handling system for the removal of unwanted secondary particles from the target region and thus reduce activation of the machine. The compact muon source we describe can be used for fundamental physics research in neutrino experiments.