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Research with muons

Overview

  • Research with Muons
  • The SμS muon source
  • The PSI proton accelerator
19 December 2022
HIPA

A two-part upgrade for the proton accelerator

Large Research Facilities Medical Science Particle physics Research with muons Radiopharmacy

A two-part upgrade is planned for HIPA from 2025 to 2028. Preparations are already under way.

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8 June 2022
Augusta Raurica

Hercules and batteries, X-rayed

Materials Research Future Technologies Research with muons

With muons, PSI researchers can examine objects non-destructively. This helps in archaeology and battery development.

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17 March 2022
Philipp Schmidt-Wellenburg

Two million Swiss francs granted to search for new physics

Particle physics Research with muons Fundamentals of Nature

Philipp Schmidt-Wellenburg will set up a novel experiment at a muon beamline at PSI.

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27 January 2021
Aldo Antognini

Size of helium nucleus measured more precisely than ever before

Media Releases Particle physics Research with muons CHRISP Fundamentals of Nature

In experiments at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, an international research collaboration has measured the radius of the atomic nucleus of helium five times more precisely than ever before. The new value can be used to test fundamental physical theories.

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13 July 2020
Teilchenphysik Teaser

In search of new physics

Particle physics Research with muons Fundamentals of Nature

With the high-intensity proton accelerator HIPA, the Paul Scherrer Institute generates elementary particles to clarify how the universe is structured. Using pions, muons, and neutrons, the researchers conduct experiments to test the standard model of particle physics.

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30 January 2019

Now it's time for something new

SwissFEL Future Technologies Materials Research Research Using Synchrotron Light Research Using Neutrons Research with muons

If you make electronic components smaller, they unfortunately get hotter. Also, we will soon reach the limit of technically feasible miniaturisation. At PSI, Gabriel Aeppli and Christian Rüegg are working on fundamentally new, physical solutions for better computers and data storage devices.

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14 December 2017

We start with 500 million muons

Research with muons

Materials for future electronics can be studied with muons. In this interview, PSI researchers Alex Amato and Thomas Prokscha explain the special characteristics of these elementary particles.

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This is a text from the PSI media archive. The contents may be out-of-date.
14 September 2017
teaser picture

The hard worker from Val Mesolcina

Particle physics Research with muons Fundamentals of Nature

For Aldo Antognini, physics and conviviality are in the bloodPSI researcher Aldo Antognini has received more than 2.2 million Swiss francs from the EU for his latest experiment. He wants to find out how magnetism is distributed in the proton. The particle physicist will be able to apply not only his scientific and technical talents, but his social flair as well.

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This is a text from the PSI media archive. The contents may be out-of-date.
12 August 2016
teaser picture

The deuteron too poses a mystery

Media Releases Future Technologies Research with muons

The deuteron — just like the proton — is smaller than previously thoughtThe deuteron — one of the simplest atomic nuclei, consisting of just one proton and one neutron — is considerably smaller than previously thought. This new research finding fits with a 2010 study in which, similarly, the proton was measured at the Paul Scherrer Institute and, likewise, a smaller value than expected was found. The result from 2010 formed the basis for what has been known since then as the proton radius puzzle.

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This is a text from the PSI media archive. The contents may be out-of-date.
9 March 2016
teaser picture

Five hundred thousand times less likely than winning the lottery

Media Releases Large Research Facilities Particle physics Research with muons Fundamentals of Nature

Measuring the rarity of a particle decayIn the so-called MEG experiment at the PSI, researchers are searching for an extremely rare decay signature from a certain kind of elementary particles known as muons. More precisely, they are quantifying its improbability. According to their latest number, this decay occurs less than once in 2.4 trillion events. By means of this result, theoretical physicists can sort out which of their approaches to describing the universe will hold up against reality.

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This is a text from the PSI media archive. The contents may be out-of-date.
8 December 2015

Measuring the simultaneity

Particle physics Research with muons Fundamentals of Nature

What does a physicist do when his experiment needs an extremely precise time measurement? So precise that existing electronics cannot help him? A scientist from the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI simply decided to develop his own solution. The result is called DRS4, a high-precision electronic chip that could unlock the physics of our entire universe. As an additional benefit, the chip is already helping doctors to localise brain tumours with great accuracy.

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This is a text from the PSI media archive. The contents may be out-of-date.
21 September 2015

Tiny magnets mimic steam, water and ice

Media Releases Materials Research Future Technologies Research with muons Micro- and Nanotechnology

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) created a synthetic material out of 1 billion tiny magnets. Astonishingly, it now appears that the magnetic properties of this so-called metamaterial change with the temperature, so that it can take on different states; just like water has a gaseous, liquid and a solid state.

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This is a text from the PSI media archive. The contents may be out-of-date.
6 August 2015
teaser picture

Magnets made of non-magnetic metals

Media Releases Future Technologies Materials Research Research with muons

For the first time, an international research team has demonstrated how to generate magnetism in metals that aren’t naturally magnetic, such as copper. The discovery could help develop novel magnets for a wide range of technical applications. Crucial measurements to understand this phenomenon were carried out at PSI à the only place where magnetic processes inside materials can be studied in sufficient detail.

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This is a text from the PSI media archive. The contents may be out-of-date.
24 February 2014
teaserbild.jpg

The proton accelerator at the Paul Scherrer Institute: forty years of top-flight research

Media Releases Large Research Facilities Research Using Neutrons Particle physics Research with muons Fundamentals of Nature

Materials research, particle physics, molecular biology, archaeology à for the last forty years, the Paul Scherrer Institute’s large-scale proton accelerator has made top-flight research possible in a number of different fields.

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This is a text from the PSI media archive. The contents may be out-of-date.
1 October 2013

The quest for an elusive white crow of particle physics

Particle physics Research with muons Fundamentals of Nature

A very rare process in nature should best decide on how we should describe our universe in the future. It is the particular decay of a particular type of elementary particle: the muon. These particles are short-lived and decay into a variety of other particles. According to one theoretical model, a very particular decay process is practically forbidden, whereas according to another it should be allowed. Which theory is correct? By observing many hundreds of trillions of muon decays very precisely, physicists at the Paul Scherrer Institut have come a step closer to solving this puzzle. They have now published their results in the journal Physical Review Letters.

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This is a text from the PSI media archive. The contents may be out-of-date.
17 May 2013
teaserbild.jpg

Experiments in millionths of a second

Future Technologies Large Research Facilities Research with muons

Muons à unstable elementary particles à provide scientists with important insights into the structure of matter. They provide information about processes in modern materials, about the properties of elementary particles and the nature of our physical world. Many muon experiments are only possible at the Paul Scherrer Institute because of the unique intense muon beams available here.

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This is a text from the PSI media archive. The contents may be out-of-date.
25 January 2013

Proton size puzzle reinforced!

Media Releases Large Research Facilities Particle physics Research with muons Fundamentals of Nature

An international team of scientists confirmed the surprisingly small value of the proton radius with laser spectroscopy of exotic hydrogen. The experiments were carried out at PSI which is the only research institute in the world providing the necessary amount of muons for the production of the exotic hydrogen atoms made up of a muon and a proton.

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This is a text from the PSI media archive. The contents may be out-of-date.
7 January 2013
teaserbild.jpg

The weak side of the proton

Media Releases Particle physics Research with muons Fundamentals of Nature

An international research team has determined with a high level of accuracy, how the proton participates in the weak interaction à one of the fundamental forces of nature. Their results confirm the predictions of the Standard Model of particle physics. The experiment observed the probability of muon capture by protons à a process governed by the weak interaction. The experiment was conducted at the Paul Scherrer Institute, the only institute in the world with an accelerator capable of generating enough muons for carrying out this project in a realistic timeframe.

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This is a text from the PSI media archive. The contents may be out-of-date.
23 November 2011
teaserbild.jpg

Erkenntnis aus dem Nichts

Media Releases Particle physics Research with muons Fundamentals of Nature

Zwei Experimente mit massgeblicher Beteiligung von Forschern des Paul Scherrer Instituts PSI liefern wichtige Ergebnisse bei der Suche nach der richtigen Beschreibung der Welt der kleinsten Teilchen. In den Experimenten haben die Physiker nach sehr seltenen Teilchenzerfällen gesucht. In beiden Fällen konnte der gesuchte Zerfall nicht beobachtet werden wodurch bestimmte Modelle der Teilchenphysik ausgeschlossen werden konnten.This news release is only available in German.

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This is a text from the PSI media archive. The contents may be out-of-date.
20 May 2011
teaserbild.jpg

Der Unterschied zwischen dünn und sehr dünn

Media Releases Future Technologies Materials Research Research with muons

Materialforschung in neuer DimensionViele Materialien haben eine spezielle kristalline Struktur à ihre Atome sind übereinander in Schichten angeordnet. Ein deutsch-schweizerisches Forscherteam hat zum ersten Mal präzise beobachtet, wie die physikalischen Eigenschaften einer Substanz von der Zahl dieser Schichten abhängen. Dass sich die physikalischen Charakteristika nun auch auf diese Weise kontrollieren lassen, eröffnet neue Möglichkeiten, Stoffe zu identifizieren, aus denen die Computerchips der Zukunft gemacht sein könnten.This news release is only available in French and German.

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This is a text from the PSI media archive. The contents may be out-of-date.
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