Positive muons accelerated for the first time using a controlled beam

Scientists have been trying to accelerate muons for decades, but these elusive fundamental particles almost always decay before reaching their full speed.

With a lifespan of just two microseconds (2 x 10^-6 sec) and the annoying habit of moving in different directions, it becomes very difficult for scientists to accelerate muons even with the help of a powerful beam.

“Muons are damn hard to accelerate because they only last about 2 microseconds before they decay into an electron and two types of neutrinos. They also rush in different directions at different speeds, making them difficult to turn into a narrow, high-intensity beam,” said Shusei Kamioka, an expert in particle physics.

However, researchers from the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) claim that they have successfully accelerated muons for the first time.

The trick is to make antimuons from muoniums.

Muons are almost the same as electrons, but they are 200 times heavier and decay very quickly. To overcome these problems and speed things up, J-PARC researchers conducted an interesting experiment.

They fired a carefully controlled beam antimuons (positively charged muons) into a spongy silica airgel that acts as a thermal insulator. The collision of antimuons and electrons in the airgel led to the formation of muonium atoms (muonium is a short-lived particle consisting of a muon and an electron).

The researchers then used a laser beam to remove electrons from the muonium atoms. This turned the muonium back into antimuons, which were flash frozen to remain static.

When the researchers applied an electric field with energies ranging from 5.7 to 100 kiloelectron volts (keV) to accelerate stationary positive muons, the particles moved at a speed of four percent. speed of light (~12 million meters per second) is an achievement that has never been achieved before.

This achievement marks a significant step towards the development of muon colliders, which have the potential to revolutionize particle physics research.

“We are developing the technology needed to accelerate muons to 94% of the speed of light, and hope to achieve this by 2028. This is our next milestone,” Kamioka. said.

Muon acceleration value

Once muon acceleration becomes scalable, it could lead to the development of specialized particle accelerators called muon colliders.

These advanced research tools can make it easier discovery of new particlespromote medical treatment and improve our understanding of the natural phenomena that govern the universe.

“In addition to building a future collider, physicists could use high-energy muon beams in experiments that could go beyond the standard model of particle physics, for example to accurately measure the mysterious magnetism of muons, which is stronger than theory predicts,” Kamiake explained.

study published on arXiv and has not yet been peer reviewed.