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NPL

Nuclear Physics Lab

NPL
Life & Times of a Muon

Life & Times of a Muon

Author: Eva & Tim

The overall muon lifetime experimental system.
Tim was given a pile of BC-408 plastic scintillator panels from our friend Jim. The only sensible thing to do was to make a muon telescope of sorts.
This is the NIM logic layout to use four panels of BC-408 to measure the muon’s lifetime.
A close up of the wiring.
This scope shot is an example of a muon only triggering the upper BC-408 panel.
This scope shot is an example of a muon barreling through all three detectors
This scope shot shows a muon entering the top and middle detectors, but scattering before it entered the third.
Finally, the signature of a captured muon! The muon enters the top detector and then the middle detector. The second pulse on the blue trace is the signature the muon makes when it decays into an electron. The period of time between the muon entering and its subsequent decay is governed by exponential decay statistics and hence has a characteristic lifetime.
Another example of a captured muon, this time with a shorter time before decay.
To obtain a value for the characteristic lifetime, a statistically meaningful number of muon decay events and their time must be recorded. The above is a histogram of those times.
A fit to to the exponential curve with a DC background yields a measurement of the lifetime.
Back
  • NPL-Home
    • About Us
    • Accelerators
      • Betatrons
        • Plasma Betatron Coil Form: Design and Construction
        • Pulsed B-Dot Measurement
        • CW B-Dot Measurement
        • First Beam Attempts
      • Cyclotrons
        • 12-Inch Cyclotron
        • Axial Betatron Motion
        • Floating Wire Technique
        • 12-Inch Cyclotron Papers
      • DC Potential Drop
    • Experiments
      • Alpha Spark Detector
      • Jay’s Diffusion Cloud Chamber
      • Tim’s Wilson Cloud Chamber
      • Deuterated Target Preparation
      • Gamma-Gamma Coincidence
      • Measurement of excited Np237 half-life via the alpha-gamma coincidence method.
      • MUONS
        • Life & Times of a Muon
      • Neutrons
        • Neutron Diffusion Time Measurement
        • Neutron Induced Gamma Rays
        • Neutron Detection with He-3
      • Photography
        • AVCO Rotating Mirror
        • Dark Room
        • Fast Flash Photography
        • Rotating Drum Camera
        • Schlieren Photography
        • X-Rayted Photos
      • Rutherford Scattering
      • Thermoluminescence
    • History
      • The Kerst Collection
      • Heisenberg Cube
      • Koeth Collection – Consumer Products
      • Koeth Collection – Radiation Detection Instruments
      • Koeth Collection – Reactors & Weapons
      • Koeth Collection – Games & Collectables
    • High Voltage & Pulsed Power
      • Blue Thunder
      • Jacob’s Ladder
      • Krytrons
      • Marx Generator
      • Electric Watermelon
      • Tesla Coils
        • Jay’s Tesla Coil
        • Variacs
      • Quarter Crushing
    • Plasma
      • Fusors
        • FUSOR I
        • FUSOR II
        • Scott's Fusor
        • Fusor Simulations
      • The Mirror Machine
      • Pinch Machines
        • Linear Pinch
        • Toroidal Pinch
        • Pinching
    • Spectroscopy
      • Alpha Particle Spectroscopy
      • Gamma Ray Spectroscopy
        • HPGe Gamma Ray Spectroscopy Education
        • HPGe Systems
        • Cosmogenic Be-7
        • NAS Wildwood Mystery
        • Autunite
        • Trinitite
        • Tc-99m : Cardiac Stress Test
      • Software & Hardware
        • Refurbishment of LN2 Dewars
        • DIY Matlab MCA
        • Amateur Canberra Spectroscopy System
        • Antique MCA
        • NIM Modules
          • Canberra Nim Modules
          • ORTEC Nim Devices

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