ABSTRACT:
Muon to electron conversion in a muonic atom is a process of charged lepton
flavor violation (CLFV). The COMET experiment aims to search for muon to
electron conversion at J-PARC with single-event sensitivity of 3x10-17, which
is about 10,000 improvement over the current limit. Recently the COMET
experiment has taken a staged approach. COMET Phase-I, as the first phase,
aims at a single-event sensitivity of 3x10-15 with a part of the full muon beam
line and a Phase-I dedicated detector in the order of about 10+6 sec. The funds
for COMET Phase-I have been approved as a supplemental budget, and
the construction has started in 2013. The physics run is expected to start in
2016. The COMET Phase-II will follow immediately. In this talk, I will describe
the physics motivation of CLFV and the details of COMET Phase-I / Phase-II
together with the current status.