MEGA experiment: A search for μ→eγ

The MEGA experiment is designed to search for the μ→eγ process with a branching ratio sensitivity of 10-13. This decay violates the empirically established rule of lepton family number conservation and lies outside the Standard Model of electroweak interactions. In order for the experiment to make a factor of 500 improvement over the existing limit, a new design was adopted that employs highly modular, fast detectors and state-of-the-art electronic readout. The detectors are contained in a 15 kG solenoidal field produced by a superconducting magnet. The central region is a positron spectrometer, and the outer region is four layers of pair spectrometers. Data taking is expected to commence in 1989