18 research outputs found
A measurement of parity-violating gamma-ray asymmetries in polarized cold neutron capture on 35Cl, 113Cd, and 139La
An apparatus for measuring parity-violating asymmetries in gamma-ray emission
following polarized cold neutron capture was constructed as a 1/10th scale test
of the design for the forthcoming n+p->d+gamma experiment at LANSCE. The
elements of the polarized neutron beam, including a polarized 3He neutron spin
filter and a radio frequency neutron spin rotator, are described. Using CsI(Tl)
detectors and photodiode current mode readout, measurements were made of
asymmetries in gamma-ray emission following neutron capture on 35Cl, 113Cd, and
139La targets. Upper limits on the parity-allowed asymmetry were set at the level of 7 x 10^-6 for all three
targets. Parity-violating asymmetries were observed in
35Cl, A_gamma = (-29.1 +- 6.7) x 10^-6, and 139La, A_gamma = (-15.5 +- 7.1) x
10^-6, values consistent with previous measurements.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Nucl. Instr. and Meth.
Nab: Measurement Principles, Apparatus and Uncertainties
The Nab collaboration will perform a precise measurement of 'a', the
electron-neutrino correlation parameter, and 'b', the Fierz interference term
in neutron beta decay, in the Fundamental Neutron Physics Beamline at the SNS,
using a novel electric/magnetic field spectrometer and detector design. The
experiment is aiming at the 10^{-3} accuracy level in (Delta a)/a, and will
provide an independent measurement of lambda = G_A/G_V, the ratio of
axial-vector to vector coupling constants of the nucleon. Nab also plans to
perform the first ever measurement of 'b' in neutron decay, which will provide
an independent limit on the tensor weak coupling.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, talk presented at the International
Workshop on Particle Physics with Slow Neutrons, Grenoble, 29-31 May 2008; to
appear in Nucl. Instrum. Meth. in Physics Research
A Current Mode Detector Array for Gamma-Ray Asymmetry Measurements
We have built a CsI(Tl) gamma-ray detector array for the NPDGamma experiment
to search for a small parity-violating directional asymmetry in the angular
distribution of 2.2 MeV gamma-rays from the capture of polarized cold neutrons
by protons with a sensitivity of several ppb. The weak pion-nucleon coupling
constant can be determined from this asymmetry. The small size of the asymmetry
requires a high cold neutron flux, control of systematic errors at the ppb
level, and the use of current mode gamma-ray detection with vacuum photo diodes
and low-noise solid-state preamplifiers. The average detector photoelectron
yield was determined to be 1300 photoelectrons per MeV. The RMS width seen in
the measurement is therefore dominated by the fluctuations in the number of
gamma rays absorbed in the detector (counting statistics) rather than the
intrinsic detector noise. The detectors were tested for noise performance,
sensitivity to magnetic fields, pedestal stability and cosmic background. False
asymmetries due to gain changes and electronic pickup in the detector system
were measured to be consistent with zero to an accuracy of in a few
hours. We report on the design, operating criteria, and the results of
measurements performed to test the detector array.Comment: 33 pages, 20 figures, 2 table
Precision Measurement of PArity Violation in Polarized Cold Neutron Capture on the Proton: the NPDGamma Experiment
The NPDGamma experiment at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) is
dedicated to measure with high precision the parity violating asymmetry in the
emission after capture of spin polarized cold neutrons in
para-hydrogen. The measurement will determine unambiguously the weak
pion-nucleon-nucleon () coupling constant {\it f}Comment: Proceedings of the PANIC'05 Conference, Santa Fe, NM, USA, October
24-28, 2005, 3 pages, 2 figure
An updated analysis of NN elastic scattering data to 1.6 GeV
An energy-dependent and set of single-energy partial-wave analyses of
elastic scattering data have been completed. The fit to 1.6~GeV has been
supplemented with a low-energy analysis to 400 MeV. Using the low-energy fit,
we study the sensitivity of our analysis to the choice of coupling
constant. We also comment on the possibility of fitting data alone. These
results are compared with those found in the recent Nijmegen analyses. (Figures
may be obtained from the authors upon request.)Comment: 17 pages of text, VPI-CAPS-7/
Strangeness-conserving effective weak chiral Lagrangian
We consider the strangeness–conserving effective weak chiral Lagrangian based on the nonlocal chiral quark model from the instanton vacuum. We incorporate the effect of the strong interaction by the gluon into the effective Lagrangian. The effect of the Wilson coefficients on the weak pion–nucleon coupling constant is discussed briefly.PACS: 12.40.-y, 14.20.Dh Effective chiral Lagrangian, Wilson coefficients, weak pion-nucleon coupling constan
Measurement of the absolute neutron beam polarization from a supermirror polarizer and the absolute efficiency of a neutron spin rotator for the NPDGamma experiment using a polarized He neutron spin-filter
Accurately measuring the neutron beam polarization of a high flux, large area neutron beam is necessary for many neutron physics experiments. The Fundamental Neutron Physics Beamline (FnPB) at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) is a pulsed neutron beam that was polarized with a supermirror polarizer for the NPDGamma experiment. The polarized neutron beam had a flux of ∼109 neutrons per second per cm and a cross sectional area of 10×12~cm. The polarization of this neutron beam and the efficiency of a RF neutron spin rotator installed downstream on this beam were measured by neutron transmission through a polarized He neutron spin-filter. The pulsed nature of the SNS enabled us to employ an absolute measurement technique for both quantities which does not depend on accurate knowledge of the phase space of the neutron beam or the He polarization in the spin filter and is therefore of interest for any experiments on slow neutron beams from pulsed neutron sources which require knowledge of the absolute value of the neutron polarization. The polarization and spin-reversal efficiency measured in this work were done for the NPDGamma experiment, which measures the parity violating -ray angular distribution asymmetry with respect to the neutron spin direction in the capture of polarized neutrons on protons. The experimental technique, results, systematic effects, and applications to neutron capture targets are discussed