Muonium-Antimuonium Conversion
Lorenz Willmann, Klaus Jungmann
SciPost Phys. Proc. 5, 009 (2021) · published 6 September 2021
- doi: 10.21468/SciPostPhysProc.5.009
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Proceedings event
Review of Particle Physics at PSI
Abstract
The MACS experiment performed at PSI in the 1990s provided an yet unchallenged upper bound on the probability for a spontaneous conversion of the muonium atom, ${\rm M=}$($\rm{\mu^+e^-}$) , into its antiatom, antimuonium ${\overline{\rm{M}} = }$($\rm{\mu^-e^+})$. It comprises the culmination of a series of measurements at various accelerator laboratories worldwide. The experimental limits on the process have provided input and steering for the further development of a variety of theoretical models beyond the standard theory, in particular for models which address lepton number violating processes and matter-antimatter oscillations. Several models beyond the standard theory could be strongly disfavored. There is interest in a new measurement and improved sensitivity could be reached by exploiting the time evolution of the conversion process, e.g., at intense pulsed muonium sources.