Speaker
Description
We present a simulation-based study of signal-background discrimination for the Mu2e experiment at Fermilab, targeting the charged lepton flavor violating process $\mu^- N \to e^- N$. Using the Mu2e Offline art framework, we analyze simulated samples of conversion electron (CE) signal events alongside beam-related backgrounds dominated by two-electron final states, including decay-in-orbit (DIO) and Michel electrons from overlapping muon stops within a single incoming proton bunch.
The CE signal produces a single ${\sim}105$ MeV/c electron track consistent with a helical trajectory in the solenoidal field, while the dominant background manifests as two lower-momentum tracks (${\sim}50$ MeV/c each) arriving in close temporal proximity. These topologically distinct signatures produce characteristic differences in tracker hit multiplicity, inter-track timing, and calorimeter cluster energy that form the basis of our discrimination strategy.
We develop a set of observables derived from tracker hit distributions and calorimeter cluster topology, and evaluate their power to suppress background while maintaining high CE acceptance. Results are presented for the Run 1B simulation campaign, and we discuss prospects for the upcoming geometry simulation campaign currently under development at Fermilab. This work lays the groundwork for an analysis strategy to be applied to early Mu2e data.