EFT approach to the endpoint of muon decay-in-orbit

Abstract

As upcoming experiments aim to probe muon conversion with unprecedented precision, equally precise theoretical predictions are crucial to maximize discovery potential. This applies not only to the new physics signal, muon-electron conversion, but also to its only irreducible background, muon decay-in-orbit (DIO) near the endpoint. Accurate computation of higher-order corrections in bound states is a long-standing challenge due to the difficulty of systematically organizing contributions. In previous work, we developed an Effective Field Theory framework to address this issue and applied it to muon conversion. Here, we extend this approach to the DIO endpoint, a more complex problem due to the presence of a neutrino-antineutrino pair in the final state. We present the most precise prediction to date of the background spectrum relevant for future muon conversion searches, achieving next-to-leading logarithmic prime accuracy for QED corrections.