Precision Beam Parameter Monitoring in a Measurement of the Weak Mixing Angle in Moeller Scattering

A precision measurement of the parity nonconserving left-right asymmetry, A{sub LR}, in Moeller scattering (e{sup -}e{sup -} {yields} e{sup -}e{sup -}) is currently in progress at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). This experiment, labeled SLAC-E158, scatters longitudinally polarized electrons off atomic electrons in an unpolarized hydrogen target at a Q{sup 2} of 0.03 (GeV/c){sup 2}. The asymmetry, which is the fractional difference in the scattering cross-sections, measures the effective pseudo-scalar weak neutral current coupling, g{sub ee}, governing Moeller scattering. This quantity is in turn proportional to (1/4 - sin{sup 2} {theta}{sub w}), where {theta}{sub w} is the electroweak mixing angle. The goal is to measure the asymmetry to a precision of 1 x 10{sup -8} which corresponds to {delta}(sin{sup 2} {theta}{sub w}) {approx} 0.0007. Since A{sub LR} is a function of the cross-sections, and the cross-sections depend on the beam parameters, the desired precision of A{sub LR} places stringent requirements on the beam parameters. This paper investigates the requirements on the beam parameters and discusses the means by which they are monitored and accounted for.