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Experimental search for the rare decay of the long-lived neutral kaon to a muon and an electron

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:7277632

This dissertation describes a search for the decay K{sub L} {yields} {mu}e, which is forbidden in the Standard Model. The author performed this search at experiment E791 at Brookhaven National Laboratory. A positive signal would have indicated new physics beyond the Standard Model. No candidate events were found, indicating a branching ratio limit for this decay of B(K{sub L} {yields} {mu}e) < 8.6 {times} 10{sup {minus}11} (90% confidence level) with a 5% systematic uncertainty. This is a significant improvement over previous results. In addition, he measured the branching ratio of K{sub L} {yields} {mu}{mu}; after finding 281 of these events, he calculates a branching ratio of B(K{sub L} {yields} {mu}{mu}) = (7.6 {plus minus} 0.5 {plus minus} 0.4) {times} 10{sup {minus}9}.

Research Organization:
California Univ., Los Angeles, CA (United States)
OSTI ID:
7277632
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English