21 research outputs found
Comparison of two experiments on radiative neutron decay
Over 10 years ago we proposed an experiment on measuring the characteristics
of radiative neutron decay in papers [1, 2]. At the same time we had published
the theoretical spectrum of radiative gamma quanta, calculated within the
framework of the electroweak interactions, on the basis of which we proposed
the methodology for the future experiment [3,4]. However, because we were
denied beam time on the intensive cold neutron beam at ILL (Grenoble, France)
for a number of years, we could only conduct the experiment in 2005 on the
newly opened FRMII reactor of Technical University of Muenchen. The main result
of this experiment was the discovery of radiative neutron decay and the
measurement of its relative intensity B.R.= (3.2+-1.6)10-3 with C.L.=99.7% for
radiative gamma quanta with energy over 35 kev [5,6]. Over a year after our
first announcement about the results of the conducted experiment, "Nature" [7]
published a letter asserting that its authors have also measured the branching
ratio of radiative neutron decay B.R.= (3.13+-0.34)10-3 with C.L.=68% and gamma
quanta energy from 15 to 340 kev. This article aims to compare these two
experiments. It is shown that the use of strong magnetic fields in the NIST
(Washington, USA) experiment methodology not only prevents any exact
measurement of the branching ratio and identification of radiative neutron
decay events, but also makes registration of ordinary neutron decay events
impossible.Comment: contribution on conference ISINN-1
Is the Unitarity of the quark-mixing-CKM-matrix violated in neutron -decay?
We report on a new measurement of neutron -decay asymmetry. From the
result \linebreak = -0.1189(7), we derive the ratio of the axial vector
to the vector coupling constant = = -1.2739(19). When
included in the world average for the neutron lifetime = 885.7(7)s, this
gives the first element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix . With this value and the Particle Data Group values for and
, we find a deviation from the unitarity condition for the first row of
the CKM matrix of = 0.0083(28), which is 3.0 times the stated error
Options for the Neutron Lifetime Measurements in Traps
Different geometries for the neutron lifetime measurements by the method of
ultracold neutron storage in material traps and additional possibilities for
the neutron storage in the magnetic storage ring are considered.Comment: 21 p., 11 figure
The neutron and its role in cosmology and particle physics
Experiments with cold and ultracold neutrons have reached a level of
precision such that problems far beyond the scale of the present Standard Model
of particle physics become accessible to experimental investigation. Due to the
close links between particle physics and cosmology, these studies also permit a
deep look into the very first instances of our universe. First addressed in
this article, both in theory and experiment, is the problem of baryogenesis ...
The question how baryogenesis could have happened is open to experimental
tests, and it turns out that this problem can be curbed by the very stringent
limits on an electric dipole moment of the neutron, a quantity that also has
deep implications for particle physics. Then we discuss the recent spectacular
observation of neutron quantization in the earth's gravitational field and of
resonance transitions between such gravitational energy states. These
measurements, together with new evaluations of neutron scattering data, set new
constraints on deviations from Newton's gravitational law at the picometer
scale. Such deviations are predicted in modern theories with extra-dimensions
that propose unification of the Planck scale with the scale of the Standard
Model ... Another main topic is the weak-interaction parameters in various
fields of physics and astrophysics that must all be derived from measured
neutron decay data. Up to now, about 10 different neutron decay observables
have been measured, much more than needed in the electroweak Standard Model.
This allows various precise tests for new physics beyond the Standard Model,
competing with or surpassing similar tests at high-energy. The review ends with
a discussion of neutron and nuclear data required in the synthesis of the
elements during the "first three minutes" and later on in stellar
nucleosynthesis.Comment: 91 pages, 30 figures, accepted by Reviews of Modern Physic
Estimation of scalar and tensor weak-interaction constants on the basis of recent neutron experimental data
Effect of taking into account the radiative decay mode in measurements of the antineutrino-spin correlation in neutron decay
Experimental study of quasi-elastic scattering of ultracold neutrons
Ultracold neutrons (UCN) are lost from traps if they are quasi-elastically scattered
from the wall with an energy gain sufficient to exceed the Fermi potential for the wall. Possible
mechanisms of a quasi-elastic energy transfer are, for instance, scattering from hydrogen diffusing in an
impurity surface layer or on surface waves at a liquid wall. Using two different experimental methods at
the UCN source of the Institut Laue-Langevin we have investigated both the energy-gain and the
energy-loss side of quasi-elastic UCN scattering on Fomblin grease coated walls. For Fomblin oil and
similar new types of oil we report up-scattering data as a function of temperature and energy transfer.
These low-temperature oils may be used in an improved measurement of the neutron lifetime, which requires
extremely low wall reflection losses