191 research outputs found
A proposed search for new light bosons using a table-top neutron Ramsey apparatus
If a new light boson existed, it would mediate a new force between ordinary
fermions, like neutrons. In general such a new force is described by the
Compton wavelength of the associated boson and a set of
dimensionless coupling constants. For light boson masses of about eV,
is of the order millimeters. Here, we propose a table-top particle
physics experiment which provides the possibility to set limits on the strength
of the coupling constants of light bosons with spin-velocity coupling. It
utilises Ramsey's technique of separated oscillating fields to measure the
pseudo-magnetic effect on neutron spins passing by a massive sample.Comment: proceedings of the ECNS 2011 conference, published in Jour of Phys.
Conf. Serie
Polarized Neutron Laue Diffraction on a Crystal Containing Dynamically Polarized Proton Spins
We report on a polarized-neutron Laue diffraction experiment on a single
crystal of neodynium doped lanthanum magnesium nitrate hydrate containing
polarized proton spins. By using dynamic nuclear polarization to polarize the
proton spins, we demonstrate that the intensities of the Bragg peaks can be
enhanced or diminished significantly, whilst the incoherent background, due to
proton spin disorder, is reduced. It follows that the method offers unique
possibilities to tune continuously the contrast of the Bragg reflections and
thereby represents a new tool for increasing substantially the signal-to-noise
ratio in neutron diffraction patterns of hydrogenous matter.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
muCool: A novel low-energy muon beam for future precision experiments
Experiments with muons () and muonium atoms () offer
several promising possibilities for testing fundamental symmetries. Examples of
such experiments include search for muon electric dipole moment, measurement of
muon and experiments with muonium from laser spectroscopy to gravity
experiments. These experiments require high quality muon beams with small
transverse size and high intensity at low energy.
At the Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland, we are developing a novel device
that reduces the phase space of a standard beam by a factor of
with efficiency. The phase space compression is achieved by
stopping a standard beam in a cryogenic helium gas. The stopped
are manipulated into a small spot with complex electric and magnetic
fields in combination with gas density gradients. From here, the muons are
extracted into the vacuum and into a field-free region. Various aspects of this
compression scheme have been demonstrated. In this article the current status
will be reported.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, TCP 2018 conference proceeding
Muonium emission into vacuum from mesoporous thin films at cryogenic temperatures
We report on Muonium (Mu) emission into vacuum following {\mu}+ implantation
in mesoporous thin SiO2 films. We obtain a yield of Mu into vacuum of (38\pm4)%
at 250 K temperature and (20\pm4)% at 100 K for 5 keV {\mu}+ implantation
energy. From the implantation energy dependence of the Mu vacuum yield we
determine the Mu diffusion constants in these films: D250KMu = (1.6 \pm 0.1)
\times 10-4 cm2/s and D100KMu = (4.2\pm0.5)\times10-5 cm2/s. Describing the
diffusion process as quantum mechanical tunneling from pore-to-pore, we
reproduce the measured temperature dependence T^3/2 of the diffusion constant.
We extract a potential barrier of (-0.3 \pm 0.1) eV which is consistent with
our computed Mu work-function in SiO2 of [-0.3,-0.9] eV. The high Mu vacuum
yield even at low temperatures represents an important step towards next
generation Mu spectroscopy experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 5 Figure
Measurements of the \gamma * p --> \Delta(1232) reaction at low Q2
We report new p measurements in the
resonance at the low momentum transfer region utilizing the
magnetic spectrometers of the A1 Collaboration at MAMI. The mesonic cloud
dynamics are predicted to be dominant and appreciably changing in this region
while the momentum transfer is sufficiently low to be able to test chiral
effective calculations. The results disagree with predictions of constituent
quark models and are in reasonable agreement with dynamical calculations with
pion cloud effects, chiral effective field theory and lattice calculations. The
reported measurements suggest that improvement is required to the theoretical
calculations and provide valuable input that will allow their refinements
A highly stable atomic vector magnetometer based on free spin precession
We present a magnetometer based on optically pumped Cs atoms that measures
the magnitude and direction of a 1 T magnetic field. Multiple circularly
polarized laser beams were used to probe the free spin precession of the Cs
atoms. The design was optimized for long-time stability and achieves a scalar
resolution better than 300 fT for integration times ranging from 80 ms to 1000
s. The best scalar resolution of less than 80 fT was reached with integration
times of 1.6 to 6 s. We were able to measure the magnetic field direction with
a resolution better than 10 rad for integration times from 10 s up to 2000
s
Constraining interactions mediated by axion-like particles with ultracold neutrons
We report a new limit on a possible short range spin-dependent interaction
from the precise measurement of the ratio of Larmor precession frequencies of
stored ultracold neutrons and Hg atoms confined in the same volume. The
measurement was performed in a 1 T vertical magnetic holding field
with the apparatus searching for a permanent electric dipole moment of the
neutron at the Paul Scherrer Institute. A possible coupling between freely
precessing polarized neutron spins and unpolarized nucleons of the wall
material can be investigated by searching for a tiny change of the precession
frequencies of neutron and mercury spins. Such a frequency change can be
interpreted as a consequence of a short range spin-dependent interaction that
could possibly be mediated by axions or axion-like particles. The interaction
strength is proportional to the CP violating product of scalar and pseudoscalar
coupling constants . Our result confirms limits from complementary
experiments with spin-polarized nuclei in a model-independent way. Limits from
other neutron experiments are improved by up to two orders of magnitude in the
interaction range of m
An Improved Search for the Neutron Electric Dipole Moment
A permanent electric dipole moment of fundamental spin-1/2 particles violates
both parity (P) and time re- versal (T) symmetry, and hence, also charge-parity
(CP) symmetry since there is no sign of CPT-violation. The search for a neutron
electric dipole moment (nEDM) probes CP violation within and beyond the Stan-
dard Model. The experiment, set up at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), an
improved, upgraded version of the apparatus which provided the current best
experimental limit, dn < 2.9E-26 ecm (90% C.L.), by the RAL/Sussex/ILL
collaboration: Baker et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 131801 (2006). In the next
two years we aim to improve the sensitivity of the apparatus to sigma(dn) =
2.6E-27 ecm corresponding to an upper limit of dn < 5E-27 ecm (95% C.L.), in
case for a null result. In parallel the collaboration works on the design of a
new apparatus to further increase the sensitivity to sigma(dn) = 2.6E-28 ecm.Comment: APS Division for particles and fields, Conference Proceedings, Two
figure
Testing isotropy of the universe using the Ramsey resonance technique on ultracold neutron spins
Physics at the Planck scale could be revealed by looking for tiny violations
of fundamental symmetries in low energy experiments. In 2008, a sensitive test
of the isotropy of the Universe using has been performed with stored ultracold
neutrons (UCN), this is the first clock-comparison experiment performed with
free neutrons. During several days we monitored the Larmor frequency of neutron
spins in a weak magnetic field using the Ramsey resonance technique. An
non-zero cosmic axial field, violating rotational symmetry, would induce a
daily variation of the precession frequency. Our null result constitutes one of
the most stringent tests of Lorentz invariance to date.Comment: proceedings of the PNCMI2010 conferenc
Lowest Q^2 Measurement of the gamma*p -> Delta Reaction: Probing the Pionic Contribution
To determine nonspherical angular momentum amplitudes in hadrons at long
ranges (low Q^2), data were taken for the p(\vec{e},e'p)\pi^0 reaction in the
Delta region at Q^2=0.060 (GeV/c)^2 utilizing the magnetic spectrometers of the
A1 Collaboration at MAMI. The results for the dominant transition magnetic
dipole amplitude and the quadrupole to dipole ratios at W=1232 MeV are:
M_{1+}^{3/2} = (40.33 +/- 0.63_{stat+syst} +/- 0.61_{model})
(10^{-3}/m_{\pi^+}),Re(E_{1+}^{3/2}/M_{1+}^{3/2}) = (-2.28 +/- 0.29_{stat+syst}
+/- 0.20_{model})%, and Re(S_{1+}^{3/2}/M_{1+}^{3/2}) = (-4.81 +/-
0.27_{stat+syst} +/- 0.26_{model})%. These disagree with predictions of
constituent quark models but are in reasonable agreement with lattice
calculations with non-linear (chiral) pion mass extrapolations, with chiral
effective field theory, and with dynamical models with pion cloud effects.
These results confirm the dominance, and general Q^2 variation, of the pionic
contribution at large distances.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
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