Contents INTRODUCTION OUR MUON SOURCE MUON DECAY TIME DISTRIBUTION DETECTOR PHYSICS… INTERACTION OF MATTER 335579 U/H CHARGE RATIO AT GROUND LEVEL BACKGROUNDS…10 FERMI COUPLING CONSTANT GF. TIME DILATION EFFECT ELECTRoNICS 15 SOFTWARE AND USER INTERFACE Control 21 Data file format Rate meter 4 Muons through detector Muon Decay Time histogram 24 THE LIFETIME FITTER MUON DECAY SIMULATION UTILITY SOFTWARE REfERENCES Instrumentation and Technique osmic Rays 27 General Muon Lifetime in Matter....... GETTING STARTED SUGGESTED STUDENT EXERCISES HOW TO GET HELP Muon physics2 Muon Physics Contents INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 3 OUR MUON SOURCE ........................................................................................................ 3 MUON DECAY TIME DISTRIBUTION ................................................................................. 5 DETECTOR PHYSICS ......................................................................................................... 5 INTERACTION OF µ − ’S WITH MATTER................................................................................ 7 µ + /µ− CHARGE RATIO AT GROUND LEVEL ....................................................................... 9 BACKGROUNDS.............................................................................................................. 10 FERMI COUPLING CONSTANT GF.................................................................................... 10 TIME DILATION EFFECT ................................................................................................. 11 ELECTRONICS................................................................................................................. 15 SOFTWARE AND USER INTERFACE ................................................................................. 19 Control ...................................................................................................................... 21 Data file format......................................................................................................... 23 Monitor ..................................................................................................................... 24 Rate Meter................................................................................................................. 24 Muons through Detector........................................................................................... 24 Muon Decay Time Histogram................................................................................... 24 THE LIFETIME FITTER .................................................................................................... 25 MUON DECAY SIMULATION........................................................................................... 25 UTILITY SOFTWARE ....................................................................................................... 25 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 27 Instrumentation and Technique ................................................................................ 27 Cosmic Rays.............................................................................................................. 27 General ..................................................................................................................... 28 Muon Lifetime in Matter ........................................................................................... 28 GETTING STARTED....................................................................................................... 29 SUGGESTED STUDENT EXERCISES.................................................................................. 31 HOW TO GET HELP.......................................................................................................... 33