The Mu2e Experiment

The Mu2e Experiment at Fermilab will search for the conversion of a muon to an electron in the field of an atomic nucleus with unprecedented sensitivity. The experiment requires a beam consisting of proton bunches 250 ns FW long, separated by 1.7 $\mu$ sec, with no out-of-time protons at the $10^$ fractional level. Satisfying this "extinction" requirement is very challenging. The formation of the bunches is expected to result in an extinction on the order of $10^5$. The remaining extinction will be accomplished by a system of resonant magnets and collimators, configured such that only in-time beam is delivered to the experiment. Our simulations show that the total extinction achievable by the system is on the order of $10^$, with an efficiency for transmitting in-time beam of 99.6%.

The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will search for a signature of charged lepton flavor violation, an effect prohibitively too small to be observed within the Standard Model of particle physics. Therefore, its observation is a signal of new physics. The signature that Mu2e will search for is the ratio of the rate of neutrinoless coherent conversion of muons into electrons in the field of a nucleus, relative to the muon capture rate by the nucleus. The conversion process is an example of charged lepton flavor violation. This experiment aims at a sensitivity of four orders of magnitude higher than previous related experiments. The desired sensitivity implies highly demanding requirements of accuracy in the design and conduct of the experiment. It is therefore important to investigate the tolerance of the experiment to instrumental uncertainties and provide specifications that the design and construction must meet. This is the core of the work reported in this thesis. The design of the experiment is based on three superconducting solenoid magnets. The most important uncertainties in the magnetic field of the solenoids can arise from misalignments of the Transport Solenoid, which transfers the beam from the muon production area to the detector area and eliminates beam-originating backgrounds. In this thesis, the field uncertainties induced by possible misalignments and their impact on the physics parameters of the experiment are examined. The physics parameters include the muon and pion stopping rates and the scattering of beam electrons off the capture target, which determine the signal, intrinsic background and late-arriving background yields, respectively. Additionally, a possible test of the Transport Solenoid alignment with low momentum electrons is examined, as an alternative option to measure its field with conventional probes, which is technically difficult due to mechanical interference. Misalignments of the Transport Solenoid were simulated using standard magnetic field cal- culation tools. Particle transport was simulated using the Mu2e Offline software, which includes realistic models of particle interactions with materials in the full Mu2e geometry. The physics parameters were found tolerant within the precision requirements of the experiment for rigid-body type of misalignments, which are the most dangerous, up to a maximum coil displacement of nearly 10 mm. With the appropriate choice of low momentum electron detector, the proposed Transport Solenoid test is found to be sensitive to such misalignments.

The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab is devoted to search for the conversion of a negative muon into an electron in the field of a nucleus without emission of neutrinos. One of the main parts of the Mu2e experimental setup is its Target Station in which negative pions are generated in interactions of the 8-GeV primary proton beam with a tungsten target. A large-aperture 5-T superconducting production solenoid (PS) enhances pion collection, and an S-shaped transport solenoid (TS) delivers muons and pions to the Mu2e detector. The heat and radiation shield (HRS) protects the PS and the first TS coils. A beam dump absorbs the spent beam. In order for the PS superconducting magnet to operate reliably the sophisticated HRS was designed and optimized for performance and cost. The beam dump was designed to absorb the spent beam and maintaining its temperature and air activation in the hall at the allowable level. Comprehensive MARS15 simulations have been carried out to optimize all the parts while maximizing muon yield. Results of simulations of critical radiation quantities and their implications on the overall Target Station design and integration will be reported.

In this thesis we discuss the simulation and tests carried out for the optimization and design of the electromagnetic calorimeter for the Mu2e (Muon to electron conversion) experiment, which is a proposed experiment part of the Muon Campus hosted at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) in Batavia, United States.