Results from beam tests of MEGA's low-mass, high-rate cylindrical MWPCs

One of the leading experimental projects at LAMPF has been the MEGA experiment. This is an experiment to search for the rare decay {mu} {yields} e{gamma} with a sensitivity of 10{sup {minus}13}. A prime component of this project has been the design and construction of high-rate, low mass MWPCs for the tracking of positrons from muon decay. With rate capabilities of 2 {times} 10{sup 4} e{sup +}/mm{sup 2}/s and a thickness of 3 {times} 10{sup {minus}4} radiation lengths, these chambers are state-of-the-art cylindrical MWPCs. Cylindrical chambers of this size (0.9 m{sup 2}) and thinness have never been previously constructed. The MEGA project at LAMPF has recently succeeded in building chambers with these necessary performance characteristics as demonstrated by data taken from muon decays, cosmic rays, and sources.