The scientific purpose of the RSVP project is to observe extremely rare processes that would signal a breakdown of fundamental symmetry laws of the Standard Model (SM) of Elementary Particle Physics. In doing so, RSVP will seek answers to three of the most compelling questions in particle physics: What new particles and fundamental interactions exist beyond the highest energies achievable with the highest energy colliders; what is the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe; and is the degree of CP (charge-parity) symmetry breaking in the K meson and B meson systems the same, as predicted by the SM? RSVP will pursue a very promising strategy for answering these key questions by advancing the so-called "sensitivity frontier." It complements the traditional approach of searching for new particles at the "energy frontier." The RSVP project uses the unique capabilities of the high-intensity proton beam provided by the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS). The RSVP collaboration will construct two large particle physics detectors, which will analyze particles produced in the decays of beams of muons (MECO) and of kaons (KOPIO). The beams of muons and kaons are secondary beams produced when the AGS's primary beam of pulsed, low-energy protons strikes an appropriate target, generating particles that undergo the reactions to be studied.
