Dipole-Field Contributions to Geometric-Phase-Induced False Electric-Dipole Moment Signals for Particles in Traps

It has been shown in an earlier publication that magnetic field gradients applied to particles in traps can induce Larmor frequency shifts that may falsely be interpreted as electric-dipole moment (EDM) signals. This study has now been extended to include nonuniform magnetic field gradients due to the presence of a local magnetic dipole. It is found that, in the high orbit-frequency regime, the magnitude of the shifts can be enhanced beyond the simple expectation of proportionality to the volume-averaged magnetic-field gradient.Comment: 2 pages, no figure

Gravitationally enhanced depolarization of ultracold neutrons in magnetic-field gradients

Trapped ultracold neutrons (UCN) have for many years been the mainstay of experiments to search for the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the neutron, a critical parameter in constraining scenarios of new physics beyond the Standard Model. Because their energies are so low, UCN preferentially populate the lower region of their physical enclosure, and do not sample uniformly the ambient magnetic field throughout the storage volume. This leads to a substantial increase in the rate of depolarization, as well as to shifts in the measured frequency of the stored neutrons. Consequences for EDM measurements are discussed

Neutron Lifetime Measured with Stored Ultracold Neutrons

The neutron lifetime has been measured by counting the neutrons remaining in a fluid-walled bottle as a function of the duration of storage. Losses of neutrons caused by the wall reflections are eliminated by varying the bottle volume-to-surface ratio. The result obtained is τβ=887.6±3 s

Quasielastic scattering in the interaction of ultracold neutrons with a liquid wall and application in a reanalysis of the Mambo I neutron-lifetime experiment

We develop a theory of ultracold and very cold neutron scattering on viscoelastic surface waves up to second-order perturbation theory. The results are applied to reanalyze the 1989 neutron-lifetime experiment using ultracold neutron storage in a Fomblin-coated vessel by Mampe et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 63, 593 (1989)]. Inclusion of this theory of the quasielastic scattering process in the data analysis shifts the neutron lifetime value from 887.6 ± 3 to 882.5 ± 2.1 s

Stark shift of the A2Π1/2A^2\Pi_{1/2} state in 174^{174}YbF

We have measured the Stark shift of the $A^2\Pi_{1/2} - X^2\Sigma^+$ transition in YbF. We use a molecular beam triple resonance method, with two laser transitions acting as pump and probe, assisted by an rf transition that tags a single hyperfine transition of the X state. After subtracting the known ground state Stark shift, we obtain a value of $70.3(1.5)$Hz/(V/cm)$^2$ for the static electric polarizability of the state $A^2\Pi_{1/2}(J=1/2,f)$. From this we calculate a value $\mu_e=2.46(3)$D for the electric dipole moment of the $A^2\Pi_{1/2}(v=0)$ state.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figure

A Comparison of Cranial Cavity Extraction Tools for Non-contrast Enhanced CT Scans in Acute Stroke Patients

Cranial cavity extraction is often the first step in quantitative neuroimaging analyses. However, few automated, validated extraction tools have been developed for non-contrast enhanced CT scans (NECT). The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast freely available tools in an unseen dataset of real-world clinical NECT head scans in order to assess the performance and generalisability of these tools. This study included data from a demographically representative sample of 428 patients who had completed NECT scans following hospitalisation for stroke. In a subset of the scans (n = 20), the intracranial spaces were segmented using automated tools and compared to the gold standard of manual delineation to calculate accuracy, precision, recall, and dice similarity coefficient (DSC) values. Further, three readers independently performed regional visual comparisons of the quality of the results in a larger dataset (n = 428). Three tools were found; one of these had unreliable performance so subsequent evaluation was discontinued. The remaining tools included one that was adapted from the FMRIB software library (fBET) and a convolutional neural network- based tool (rBET). Quantitative comparison showed comparable accuracy, precision, recall and DSC values (fBET: 0.984 ± 0.002; rBET: 0.984 ± 0.003; p = 0.99) between the tools; however, intracranial volume was overestimated. Visual comparisons identified characteristic regional differences in the resulting cranial cavity segmentations. Overall fBET had highest visual quality ratings and was preferred by the readers in the majority of subject results (84%). However, both tools produced high quality extractions of the intracranial space and our findings should improve confidence in these automated CT tools. Pre- and post-processing techniques may further improve these results. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12021-021-09534-7

An Improved Experimental Limit on the Electric Dipole Moment of the Neutron

An experimental search for an electric-dipole moment (EDM) of the neutron has been carried out at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), Grenoble. Spurious signals from magnetic-field fluctuations were reduced to insignificance by the use of a cohabiting atomic-mercury magnetometer. Systematic uncertainties, including geometric-phase-induced false EDMs, have been carefully studied. Two independent approaches to the analysis have been adopted. The overall results may be interpreted as an upper limit on the absolute value of the neutron EDM of |d_n| < 2.9 x 10^{-26} e cm (90% CL).Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. The published PRL is slightly more terse (e.g. no section headings) than this version, due to space constraints. Note a small correction-to-a-correction led to an adjustment of the final limit from 3.0 to 2.9 E-26 e.cm compared to the first version of this preprin

The Adaptive Cycle As a Lens for Service Learning – Community Engagement Partnerships

This paper deploys the adaptive cycle as a construct to understand the dynamics of community engagement and partnership building during an international service-learning project. A multi-disciplinary team of USA-based university students collaborated with a local community in Zambia to build two ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrines. Post-field project reflection challenged the ‘product-first’ view commonly held in service learning projects.  Time was a central point of post-field reflection. Through critical scrutiny, the team came to recognize that contextually sensitive relationship building had been essential in enabling community ownership of the project.  The construct of the adaptive cycle provided a crucial analytical tool for tracing the process through which partners from very different backgrounds achieved a sense of common purpose and opened the way for an understanding of community engagement as weaving a thread through the complex dynamics of partnership. The adaptive cycle may be useful in the preparation and implementation framework for other service learning projects emanating from institutions of higher education

Geometric-phase-induced false electric dipole moment signals for particles in traps

Theories are developed to evaluate Larmor frequency shifts, derived from geometric phases, in experiments to measure electric dipole moments (EDMs) of trapped, atoms, molecules and neutrons. A part of these shifts is proportional to the applied electric field and can be interpreted falsely as an electric dipole moment. A comparison is made between our theoretical predictions for these shifts and some results from our recent experiments, which shows agreement to within the experimental errors of 15 %. The comparison also demonstrates that some trapped particle EDM experiments have reached the sensitivity where stringent precautions are needed to minimise and control such false EDMs. Computer simulations of these processes are also described. They give good agreement with the analytical results and they extend the study by investigating the influence of varying surface reflection laws in the hard walled traps considered. They also explore the possibility to suppress such false EDMs by introducing collisions with buffer gas particles. Some analytic results for frequency shifts proportional to the square of the E-field are also given and there are results for the averaging of the B-field in the absence of an E-field