摘要

The Standard Model (SM) of particle physics has been strikingly successful in explaining a wide range of physical phenomena and almost all experimental results. One of the most significant discrepancies at present is the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon (muon g-2), which was measured by the E821 collaboration at BNL in 2006 to be more than three-standard-deviation greater than the SM prediction. Various models beyond SM physics have been proposed to explain this discrepancy, but the key to resolving this tension remains a more precise measurement of muon g-2. 

In this colloquium, I will first provide an overview of the Standard Model and its open questions. These questions lead us to believe that the SM is incomplete and the universe must contain undiscovered new physics. Then I will describe how we search for signals of new physics at intensity frontier experiments, where searches for extremely rare processes or tiny deviations from Standard Model predictions are deployed. Finally, my focus will be on the Fermilab Muon g-2 experiment, which aims to measure the muon g-2 with a precision goal of 140 parts per billion, a fourfold improvement over the previous measurement. If the central values of the experimental result and the theoretical prediction remain unchanged, the discrepancy will exceed seven standard deviations which would be a clear indication of new physics beyond SM. Preliminary results from Run 1 in 2018 and prospects of the experiment will be discussed.

报告人简介

Born in Malaysia, Dr. Kim Siang Khaw received his B.S. from Kyoto University, M.S. from the University of Tokyo, and Ph.D. in Physics from ETH Zurich. He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Washington. In 2018, he received one of the first Fundamental Physics Innovation Awards from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the American Physical Society. He is also funded by the Universities Research Association’s Visiting Scholar Award from 2016-2019 to conduct his research in the Muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab. Currently an analysis coordinator for the precession frequency analysis in the Muon g-2 experiment, his main research interests are in precision muon and muonium physics.