3:30–4:30 pm Maria Goeppert-Mayer Lecture Hall
The Dance of the Muon
Aida El-Khadra, UIUC
More than eighty years after the muon was first discovered, it is still a source of mystery. Indeed, several experiments are underway or planned that use muons as a window to search for new physics — a central goal of the high energy physics community. In an exciting development, last year's announcement by the Fermilab experiment of it's first measurement result sharpens the long-standing tension between experiment and theory for the muon’s magnetic moment to 4.2 standard deviations. The Fermilab experiment's measurement uncertainty will continue to improve, with the ultimate goal of reducing it by a factor of four. In addition, a planned experiment in Japan will provide a completely independent measurement of this quantity. After a brief tour of its history, I will discuss the ongoing interplay between theory and experiment that is essential for unlocking the discovery potential of this effort.