
JOINT PARTICLE SEMINAR
Date: Wednesday,
17 November 2004
Time:
3:00 p.m.
Place: 4135 Frederick Reines Hall
Speaker:
Dr. Yury Kolomensky, UC Berkeley
Title:"From Z0
to Zero: Precise Measurement of the Weak Mixing Angle in Moller
Scattering"
Abstract: SLAC fixed
target experiment E158 has receintly measured a tiny parity-violating
asymmetry in electron-electron (Moller) scattering. A 128 parts
per billion (ppb) asymmetry was measured with an uncertainty of 18 ppb
and leads to the most precise to date determination of the effective
weak mixing angle at low energies. A comparison of our results with the
electroweak measurements at Z pole establishes the running of
sin^2(theta_W) with almost 7 sigma significance. In this talk, I will
describe the experiment, its results, and implications, and will also
mention unexpected spinoffs, including the first observation of the
spin-orbit interaction in Moller scattering (a second-order QED effect)
and some insights into proton structure.
Host: B. Molzon