Skip to main content
  • Paul Scherrer Institut PSI
  • PSI Research, Labs & User Services

Digital User Office

  • Digital User Office
  • DE
  • EN
  • FR
Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI)
Search
Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI)

Hauptnavigation

  • Research at PSIOpen mainmenu item
    • Research Initiatives
    • Ethics and Research integrity
    • Scientific Highlights
    • Scientific Events
    • Scientific Career
    • PSI-FELLOW
    • PSI Data Policy
  • Research Divisions and LabsOpen mainmenu item
    • Overview
    • Research with Neutrons and Muons
    • Photon Science
    • Energy and Environment
    • Nuclear Energy and Safety
    • Biology and Chemistry
    • Scientific Computing, Theory and Data
    • Large Research Facilities
  • Facilities and InstrumentsOpen mainmenu item
    • Overview
    • Large Research Facilities
    • Facilities
    • PSI Facility Newsletter
  • PSI User ServicesOpen mainmenu item
    • User Office
    • Methods at the PSI User Facilities
    • Proposals for beam time
    • Proposal Deadlines
    • Data Analysis Service (PSD)
    • EU support programmes
  • New ProjectsOpen mainmenu item
    • SLS 2.0
    • IMPACT
  • DE
  • EN
  • FR

Digital User Office (mobile)

  • Digital User Office

You are here:

  1. PSI Home
  2. Labs & User Services
  3. NUM
  4. LTP
  5. Muon Physics
  6. Goals

Secondary navigation

Muon Physics Group

  • About Muon Physics Group
  • Goals
  • People
  • Scientific Highlights
  • The HIMB Project
  • Publications

Goals of the Muon Physics group

Discoveries in particle physics can be made in two ways. One way is to produce new particles directly at high energy colliders, such as the Higgs discovery recently being made at CERN. An alternative approach is to measure well known particle decays and interactions with unpreceded precision and looking for tiny deviations from values predicted by the Standard Model (SM). The most attractive particle decays are those which are not allowed in the framework of the SM, since they can only be mediated by new "virtual" particles, which occur only for a very short time in Heisenberg's uncertainty principle in the decay loop. Although these virtual particle cannot be detected directly, the observation of the decay which they mediate is a clear proof for their existence. On the other side, the non-observation of such decays or the confirmation of interactions predicted by the SM with great accuracy excludes many theoretical models beyond the SM, which would imply these decays or deviations. The reach of these indirect measurements at the current level of precision can go up to energies of several 100 TeV, much higher than today's high energy accelerators. They are therefore an important corner stone of particle physics complementing the direct searches at high energies.

The Muon Physics group is currently involved in following major experiments:


Precision Measurements

Muonic Lamb Shift experiment

Measurement of several 2S-2P transitions (Lamb shift) in muonic atoms.
Experiment home page.


MuSun experiment

Measurement of the muon capture rate on the deuteron with a 1% precision.
Experiment home page.


Searches for New Physics

MEG II experiment

Search for the lepton flavor violating decay μ → eγ at a precision down to a few times 10-14
Experiment home page.


Mu3e experiment

Search for the similar decay μ → eee down to 10-16
Experiment home page.

Sidebar

Laboratory

  • Laboratory for Particle Physics (LTP)

Groups

  • LTP Theory Group
  • Crivellin Group
  • High Energy Physics Group
  • Muon Physics Group
  • UCN Physics Group
  • Electronics for Measuring Systems Group
  • Detectors, Irradiation and Applied Particle Physics Group
  • Vocational Training Homepage (in German)

Facilities

  • Proton Irraditation Facility (PIF)
  • Ultra Cold Neutrons Source (UCN)
  • Secondary Beamlines (SBL)

Scientific Advisory Committees

  • SINQ SAC
  • SμS SAC
  • CHRISP SAC

Particle Physics Events

Overview Scientific Events at LTP.

Contact

Stefan Ritt

Telephone:
+41 56 310 37 28
E-mail:
stefan.ritt@psi.ch


Secretary
Anita Van Loon

Telephone:
+41 56 310 32 54
E-mail:
anita.vanloon@psi.ch

top

Footer

Paul Scherrer Institut

Forschungsstrasse 111
5232 Villigen PSI
Switzerland

Telephone: +41 56 310 21 11
Telefax: +41 56 310 21 99

How to find us
Contact

Visitor Centre psi forum
School Lab iLab (in German)
Center for Proton Therapy
PSI Education Centre
PSI Guest House
PSI Gastronomie (in German)
psi forum shop

Service & Support

  • Phone Book
  • User Office
  • Accelerator Status
  • PSI Publications
  • Suppliers
  • E-Billing
  • Computing
  • Safety (in German)

Career

  • Working at PSI
  • Job Opportunities
  • Training and further education
  • Career Center
  • Vocational Training (in German)
  • PSI Education Center

For the media

  • PSI in brief
  • Facts and Figures
  • Media corner
  • Media Releases
  • Social Media

Follow us: Twitter (in English) LinkedIn Youtube Facebook Instagram Issuu RSS

Footer legal

  • Imprint
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Editors' login