Speaker
Description
Small-scale experiments allow the training of new researchers in how an experiment is sketched, built, and eventually run - providing the opportunity to let the next generation of leaders grow with their experiment, in a smaller spotlight and reduced large-scale dynamics and politics compared to most modern collider-based experiments with thousands of collaborators. It also allows the development of technology in a reasonable timescale without the pressing requirements of high and long-term investments. The advantage to the community is then immediate: train the new generation and answer complex physics questions in a reasonable timescale, combined with a lower risk factor for the funding agencies.
One example of such a small experiment which has the potential for a big impact is PIONEER, a next-generation experiment to measure the charged pion decay branching ratio to electrons vs. muons as well as the pion beta decay with an order of magnitude improvement in precision, probing lepton flavor universality, CMK unitarity and |Vud| with unprecedented sensitivity. In addition, the experiment can include searches for various exotic rare decays involving sterile neutrinos and axions.
While PIONEER is located mostly in the Intensity Frontier, the implementation of the detectors needed to ensure the experimental performance is also associated with Instrumentation, most prominently in the development of solid-state 4D tracking detectors for the Active Target detectors. The experiment has a vibrant community of US and international collaborators, and strong contribution from early-career researchers.
| Topic of submission | Small projects portfolio across frontiers |
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