Symmetry (Dec 2021)

A Possible Neutron-Antineutron Oscillation Experiment at PF1B at the Institut Laue Langevin

  • Vladimir Gudkov,
  • Esben Klinby,
  • Bernhard Meirose,
  • David Milstead,
  • Valery V. Nesvizhevsky,
  • Konstantin V. Protasov,
  • Nicola Rizzi,
  • Valentina Santoro,
  • William Michael Snow,
  • Richard Wagner,
  • Sze-Chun Yiu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13122314
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 12
p. 2314

Abstract

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We consider a possible neutron–antineutron (n−n¯) oscillation experiment at the PF1B instrument at Institut Laue Langevin. It can improve the best existing constraint on the transition rate and also allow the testing of the methods and instrumentation which would be needed for a later larger-scale experiment at ESS. The main gain factors over the most competitive experiment, performed earlier at PF1 instrument at ILL, are: a more intense neutron beam and a new operating mode based on coherent n and n¯ mirror reflections. The installation of such an experiment would need a temporary replacement of the existing ballistic neutron guide by a specially designed n/n¯ guide with a gradually increasing cross section and a specially selected coating as well as the development and construction of an advanced n¯ annihilation detector with a high efficiency and low background. The overall gain factor could reach up to an order of magnitude and depends on the chosen experiment configuration.

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