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Broussard LJ, Barrow JL, DeBeer-Schmitt L, Dennis T, Fitzsimmons MR, Frost MJ, Gilbert CE, Gonzalez FM, Heilbronn L, Iverson EB, Johnston A, Kamyshkov Y, Kline M, Lewiz P, Matteson C, Ternullo J, Varriano L, Vavra S. Experimental Search for Neutron to Mirror Neutron Oscillations as an Explanation of the Neutron Lifetime Anomaly. Phys Rev Lett 2022; 128:212503. [PMID: 35687456 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.128.212503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2021] [Revised: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
An unexplained >4σ discrepancy persists between "beam" and "bottle" measurements of the neutron lifetime. A new model proposed that conversions of neutrons n into mirror neutrons n^{'}, part of a dark mirror sector, can increase the apparent neutron lifetime by 1% via a small mass splitting Δm between n and n^{'} inside the 4.6 T magnetic field of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Beam Lifetime experiment. A search for neutron conversions in a 6.6 T magnetic field was performed at the Spallation Neutron Source which excludes this explanation for the neutron lifetime discrepancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- L J Broussard
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
| | - J L Barrow
- Department of Physics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
| | | | - T Dennis
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee 37614, USA
| | - M R Fitzsimmons
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
- Department of Physics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
| | - M J Frost
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
| | - C E Gilbert
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
| | - F M Gonzalez
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
| | - L Heilbronn
- Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
| | - E B Iverson
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
| | - A Johnston
- Department of Physics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
| | - Y Kamyshkov
- Department of Physics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
| | - M Kline
- Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
| | - P Lewiz
- Department of Physics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
| | - C Matteson
- Department of Physics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
| | - J Ternullo
- Department of Physics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
| | - L Varriano
- Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
| | - S Vavra
- Department of Physics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
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