The Qweak Experiment: A Search for New Physics at the TeV Scale via a Measurement of the Proton's Weak Charge

R. D. Carlini , J.M. Finn , S. Kowalski , S. A. Page , D. S. Armstrong , A. Asaturyan , T. Averett , J. Benesch

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J. Birchall P. Bosted A. Bruell C. L. Capuano G. Cates C. Carrigee S. Chattopadhyay S. Covrig C. A. Davis K. Dow J. Dunne D. Dutta R. Ent J. Erler W. Falk H. Fenker T. A. Forest W. Franklin D. Gaskell M. Gericke J. Grames K. Grimm F. W. Hersman D. Higinbotham M. Holtrop J. R. Hoskins K. Johnston E. Ihloff M. Jones R. Jones K. Joo J. Kelsey C. Keppel M. Khol P. King E. Korkmaz J. Leacock J. P. Leckey L. Lee A. Lung D. Mack S. Majewski J. Mammei J. Martin D. Meekins A. Micherdzinska A. Mkrtchyan H. Mkrtchyan N. Morgan K. E. Myers A. Narayan A. K. Opper J. Pan K. Paschke M. Pitt M. Poelker Y. Prok W. D. Ramsay M. Ramsey-Musolf J. Roche N. Simicevic G. Smith T. Smith P. Souder D. Spayde B. E. Stokes R. Suleiman V. Tadevosyan E. Tsentalovich W. T. H. van Oers W. Vulcan P. Wang S. Wells S. A. Wood S. Yang R. Young H. Zhu C. Zorn

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classification ⚛️ physics.ins-det nucl-ex

keywords measurementprotonweakchargeexperimentmodelphysicsprecision

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We propose a new precision measurement of parity-violating electron scattering on the proton at very low Q^2 and forward angles to challenge predictions of the Standard Model and search for new physics. A unique opportunity exists to carry out the first precision measurement of the proton's weak charge, $Q_W =1 - 4\sin^2\theta_W$. A 2200 hour measurement of the parity violating asymmetry in elastic ep scattering at Q^2=0.03 (GeV/c)^2 employing 180 $\mu$A of 85% polarized beam on a 35 cm liquid Hydrogen target will determine the proton's weak charge with approximately 4% combined statistical and systematic errors. The Standard Model makes a firm prediction of $Q_W$, based on the running of the weak mixing angle from the Z0 pole down to low energies, corresponding to a 10 sigma effect in this experiment.

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The Qweak Experiment: A Search for New Physics at the TeV Scale via a Measurement of the Proton's Weak Charge

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