Measuring the weak mixing angle with the P2 experiment at MESA

Abstract: The P2 experiment in Mainz aims to measure the weak mixing angle in electron- proton scattering to a precision of 0.13 %. In order to suppress uncertainties due to proton structure and contributions from box graphs, both a low average momentum transfer $Q^2$ of $4.5\cdot 10^{-3}$ GeV$^2/c^2$ and a low beam energy of 155 MeV are chosen. In order to collect the enormous statistics required for this measurement, the new Mainz Energy Recovery Superconducting Accelerator (MESA) is being constructed. These proceedings describe the motivation for the measurement, the experimental and accelerator challenges and how we plan to tackle them.