Vacuum muon decay and interaction with laser pulses

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel mechanism where laser pulses influence muon decay in vacuum through quantum interference, potentially doubling the muon lifetime with current experimental capabilities.

Contribution

It introduces an alternative laser-induced effect on muon decay outside the pulse, demonstrating measurable lifetime modifications via quantum interference.

Findings

Laser pulses can alter muon decay rates outside the pulse region.

Quantum interference creates observable fringes in electron momentum spectra.

Muon lifetime can increase by up to a factor of 2 with current technology.

Abstract

Muons decay in vacuum mainly via the leptonic channel to an electron, a muon neutrino and an electron antineutrino. Previous investigations have concluded that muon decay can only be significantly altered in a strong electromagnetic field when the muonic strong-field parameter is of order unity, which is far beyond the reach of lab-based experiments at current and planned facilities. In this letter, an alternative mechanism is presented in which a laser pulse affects the vacuum decay rate of a muon outside the pulse. Quantum interference between the muon decaying with or without interacting with the pulse generates fringes in the electron momentum spectra and can increase the muon lifetime by up to a factor 2. The required parameters to observe this effect are available in experiments today.