Spectroscopy with cold and ultra-cold neutrons

Abstract

We present two new types of spectroscopy methods for cold and ultra-cold neutrons. The first method, which uses the R×B drift effect to disperse charged particles in a uniformly curved magnetic field, allows to study neutron β-decay. We aim for a precision on the 10−4 level. The second method that we refer to as gravity resonance spectroscopy (GRS) allows to test Newton’s gravity law at short distances. At the level of precision we are able to provide constraints on any possible gravity-like interaction. In particular, limits on dark energy chameleon fields are improved by several orders of magnitude.