0000000000185918
AUTHOR
Martin Burghoff
Spin clocks: Probing fundamental symmetries in nature
The detection of the free precession of co-located 3He/129Xe nuclear spins (clock comparison) is used as ultra-sensitive probe for non-magnetic spin interactions, since the magnetic dipole interaction (Zeeman-term) drops out in the weighted frequency difference, i.e., Δω = ωHe- γHe/γXe·ωXe of the respective Larmor frequencies. Recent results are reported on searches for (i) short-range P- and T-violating interactions between nucleons, and (ii) Lorentz violating signatures by monitoring the Larmor frequencies as the laboratory reference frame rotates with respect to distant stars (sidereal modulation). Finally, a new experimental initiative to search for an electric dipole moment of 129Xe (C…
Measurement of the permanent electric dipole moment of the neutron
We present the result of an experiment to measure the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the neutron at the Paul Scherrer Institute using Ramsey’s method of separated oscillating magnetic fields with ultracold neutrons. Our measurement stands in the long history of EDM experiments probing physics violating time-reversal invariance. The salient features of this experiment were the use of a 199Hg comagnetometer and an array of optically pumped cesium vapor magnetometers to cancel and correct for magnetic-field changes. The statistical analysis was performed on blinded datasets by two separate groups, while the estimation of systematic effects profited from an unprecedented knowledge of the magne…
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 Hg199 atoms confined in the same volume. The measurement was performed in a ~1μT 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 o…
Limit on Lorentz andCPTviolation of the bound neutron using a free precessionHe3/Xe129comagnetometer
We report on the search for Lorentz-violating sidereal variations of the frequency difference of colocated spin species while the Earth and hence the laboratory reference frame rotates with respect to a relic background field. The comagnetometer used is based on the detection of freely precessing nuclear spins from polarized 3 He and 129 Xe gas samples using SQUIDs as low-noise magnetic flux detectors. As result we can determine the limit for the equatorial component of the background field interacting with the spin of the bound neutron to be b n ⊥ < 3.7 · 10- 32 GeV (95% C.L.).
Constraints on Spin-Dependent Short-Range Interaction between Nucleons
We report on the search for a new spin-dependent P- and T-violating interaction between nucleons mediated by light, pseudoscalar bosons such as the axion which was invented to solve the strong CP problem. Our experimental approach is to use an ultra-sensitive low-field magnetometer based on the detection of free precession of co-located 3He and 129Xe nuclear spins using SQUIDs as low-noise magnetic flux detectors. In the presence of an unpolarized mass the precession frequency shif
A measurement of the neutron to 199Hg magnetic moment ratio
The neutron gyromagnetic ratio has been measured relative to that of the 199Hg atom with an uncertainty of 0.8 ppm. We employed an apparatus where ultracold neutrons and mercury atoms are stored in the same volume and report the result γn/γHg=3.8424574(30).
Towards a new measurement of the neutron electric dipole moment
International audience; The effort towards a new measurement of the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) at the Paul Scherrer Institut's (PSI) new high intensity source of ultracold neutrons (UCN) is described. The experimental technique relies on Ramsey's method of separated oscillatory fields, using UCN in vacuum with the apparatus at ambient temperature. In the first phase, R&D towards the upgrade of the RAL/Sussex/ILL apparatus is being performed at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL). In the second phase the apparatus, moved from ILL to PSI, will allow an improvement in experimental sensitivity by a factor of 5. In the third phase, a new spectrometer should gain another order of magnitud…
Additional results from the first dedicated search for neutron–mirror neutron oscillations
International audience; The existence of a mirror world holding a copy of our ordinary particle spectrum could lead to oscillations between the neutron (n) and its mirror partner (n′). Such oscillations could manifest themselves in storage experiments with ultracold neutrons whose storage lifetime would depend on the applied magnetic field. Here, extended details and measurements from the first dedicated experimental search for nn′ oscillations published in [G. Ban, K. Bodek, M. Daum, R. Henneck, S. Heule, M. Kasprzak, N. Khomutov, K. Kirch, S. Kistryn, A. Knecht, P. Knowles, M. Kuźniak, T. Lefort, A. Mtchedlishvili, O. Naviliat-Cuncic, C. Plonka, G. Quéméner, M. Rebetez, D. Rebreyend, S. R…
Probing Lorentz invariance and other fundamental symmetries in3He/129Xe clock-comparison experiments
We discuss the design and performance of a very sensitive low-field magnetometer based on the detection of free spin precession of gaseous, nuclear polarized 3He or 129Xe samples with a SQUID as magnetic flux detector. Characteristic spin precession times T*2 of up to 60 h were measured in low magnetic fields (about 1μT) and in the regime of motional narrowing. With the detection of the free precession of co-located 3He/129Xe nuclear spins (clock comparison), the device can be used as ultra-sensitive probe for non-magnetic spin interactions, since the magnetic dipole interaction (Zeeman-term) drops out in the weighted frequency difference, i.e., Δω = ωHe− γHe/γXe·ωXe. We report on searches …