Flavor Physics (Belle)
A next-generation B-factory will compliment the exploration of new physics beyond the standard model, currently being carried out at the energy frontier by experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva, Switzerland. The LHC experiments provide a direct probe of the TeV mass scale, where high-precision measurements of rare decays and CP violation in heavy quarks and leptons provide a unique probe of new physics at these, and even higher, mass scales through the effects of new particles in loop diagrams. The nature of the effects observed in this high precision measurements are complimentary to the direct searches at the LHC, and can provide important insights into the specific nature of the new physics that is anticipated to be observed at the LHC.
The U.S. Belle II Project is subsidiary to the Japanese-led Belle II detector upgrade. The Belle II upgrade will replace the inner tracking systems and particle identification (PID) systems of the existing Belle detector as well as the endcap and inner layers of the barrel muon systems (KLM). The U.S. Belle II Project scope is to provide elements of the barrel PID and KLM systems and electronics for these systems as well as for the remaining barrel KLM detectors and the endcap KLM replacement system that will be provided by other collaborators. The Japanese are responsible for final system integration with U.S. participation. PNNL is the lead DOE laboratory in the U.S. Belle II Project.
