Status of the UCN experiment

The neutron is the simplest nuclear system that can be used to probe the structure of the weak interaction and search for physics beyond the standard model. Measurements of neutron lifetime and β-decay correlation coefficients with precisions of 0.02% and 0.1%, respectively, would allow for stringent constraints on new physics. The UCNτ experiment uses an asymmetric magneto-gravitational UCN trap with in situ counting of surviving neutrons to measure the neutron lifetime, τn = 877.7s (0.7s)stat (+0.4/−0.2s)sys. We discuss the recent result from UCNτ, the status of ongoing data collection and analysis, and the path toward a 0.25 s measurement of the neutron lifetime with UCNτ.

Neutron spin rotation measurements

The neutron spin rotation (NSR) collaboration used parity-violating spin rotation of transversely polarized neutrons transmitted through a 0.5 m liquid helium target to constrain weak coupling constants between nucleons. While consistent with theoretical expectation, the upper limit set by this measurement on the rotation angle is limited by statistical uncertainties. The NSR collaboration is preparing a new measurement to improve this statistically-limited result by about an order of magnitude. In addition to using the new high-flux NG-C beam at the NIST Center for Neutron Research, the apparatus was upgraded to take advantage of the larger-area and more divergent NG-C beam. Significant improvements are also being made to the cryogenic design. Details of these improvements and readiness of the upgraded apparatus are presented. We also comment on how recent theoretical work combining effective field theory techniques with the 1/Nc expansion of QCD along with previous NN weak measurements can be used to make a prediction for dϕ/dz in 4He.

An experiment using the same apparatus with a room-temperature target was carried out at LANSCE to place limits on parity-conserving rotations from possible fifth-force interactions to complement previous studies. We sought this interaction using a slow neutron polarimeter that passed transversely polarized slow neutrons by unpolarized slabs of material arranged so that this interaction would tilt the plane of polarization and develop a component along the neutron momentum. The results of this measurement and its impact on the neutron-matter coupling gA2 from such an interaction are presented. The NSR collaboration is also preparing a new measurement that uses an upgraded version of the room-temperature target to be run on the NG-C beamline; and it is expected to constrain gA2 by at least two additional orders of magnitude for λc between 1 cm and 1 μm.

First Observation of P-odd γ Asymmetry in Polarized Neutron Capture on Hydrogen

We report the first observation of the parity-violating gamma-ray asymmetry A_{γ}^{np} in neutron-proton capture using polarized cold neutrons incident on a liquid parahydrogen target at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A_{γ}^{np} isolates the ΔI=1, ^{3}S_{1}→^{3}P_{1} component of the weak nucleon-nucleon interaction, which is dominated by pion exchange and can be directly related to a single coupling constant in either the DDH meson exchange model or pionless effective field theory. We measured A_{γ}^{np}=[-3.0±1.4(stat)±0.2(syst)]×10^{-8}, which implies a DDH weak πNN coupling of h_{π}^{1}=[2.6±1.2(stat)±0.2(syst)]×10^{-7} and a pionless EFT constant of C^{^{3}S_{1}→^{3}P_{1}}/C_{0}=[-7.4±3.5(stat)±0.5(syst)]×10^{-11}  MeV^{-1}. We describe the experiment, data analysis, systematic uncertainties, and implications of the result.