Physics Letters B (Jan 2021)
A search for neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations using the nEDM apparatus at PSI
- C. Abel,
- N.J. Ayres,
- G. Ban,
- G. Bison,
- K. Bodek,
- V. Bondar,
- E. Chanel,
- P.-J. Chiu,
- C. Crawford,
- M. Daum,
- R.T. Dinani,
- S. Emmenegger,
- P. Flaux,
- L. Ferraris-Bouchez,
- W.C. Griffith,
- Z.D. Grujić,
- N. Hild,
- K. Kirch,
- H.-C. Koch,
- P.A. Koss,
- A. Kozela,
- J. Krempel,
- B. Lauss,
- T. Lefort,
- A. Leredde,
- P. Mohanmurthy,
- O. Naviliat-Cuncic,
- D. Pais,
- F.M. Piegsa,
- G. Pignol,
- M. Rawlik,
- D. Rebreyend,
- I. Rienäcker,
- D. Ries,
- S. Roccia,
- D. Rozpedzik,
- P. Schmidt-Wellenburg,
- N. Severijns,
- J. Thorne,
- A. Weis,
- E. Wursten,
- J. Zejma,
- G. Zsigmond
Affiliations
- C. Abel
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QH, United Kingdom
- N.J. Ayres
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
- G. Ban
- Normandie Université, ENSICAEN, UNICAEN, CNRS/IN2P3, LPC Caen, 14000 Caen, France
- G. Bison
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- K. Bodek
- Marian Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, 30-348 Kraków, Poland
- V. Bondar
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
- E. Chanel
- Laboratory for High Energy Physics and Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
- P.-J. Chiu
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- C. Crawford
- University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40508, United States of America
- M. Daum
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- R.T. Dinani
- Institute for Nuclear and Radiation Physics, KU Leuven, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
- S. Emmenegger
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
- P. Flaux
- Normandie Université, ENSICAEN, UNICAEN, CNRS/IN2P3, LPC Caen, 14000 Caen, France
- L. Ferraris-Bouchez
- Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie, Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS/IN2P3, Grenoble, France
- W.C. Griffith
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QH, United Kingdom
- Z.D. Grujić
- University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
- N. Hild
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- K. Kirch
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- H.-C. Koch
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- P.A. Koss
- Institute for Nuclear and Radiation Physics, KU Leuven, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
- A. Kozela
- Henryk Niedwodniczański Institute of Nuclear Physics, 31-342 Kraków, Poland
- J. Krempel
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
- B. Lauss
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- T. Lefort
- Normandie Université, ENSICAEN, UNICAEN, CNRS/IN2P3, LPC Caen, 14000 Caen, France
- A. Leredde
- Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie, Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS/IN2P3, Grenoble, France
- P. Mohanmurthy
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland; Corresponding authors. Address for correspondence for author G. Zsigmond: Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
- O. Naviliat-Cuncic
- Normandie Université, ENSICAEN, UNICAEN, CNRS/IN2P3, LPC Caen, 14000 Caen, France
- D. Pais
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- F.M. Piegsa
- Laboratory for High Energy Physics and Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
- G. Pignol
- Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie, Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS/IN2P3, Grenoble, France
- M. Rawlik
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- D. Rebreyend
- Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie, Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS/IN2P3, Grenoble, France
- I. Rienäcker
- Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland; Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- D. Ries
- Department of Chemistry - TRIGA site, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- S. Roccia
- Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie, Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS/IN2P3, Grenoble, France; Institut Laue-Langevin, CS 20156, F-38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
- D. Rozpedzik
- Marian Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, 30-348 Kraków, Poland
- P. Schmidt-Wellenburg
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- N. Severijns
- Institute for Nuclear and Radiation Physics, KU Leuven, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
- J. Thorne
- Laboratory for High Energy Physics and Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
- A. Weis
- University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
- E. Wursten
- Institute for Nuclear and Radiation Physics, KU Leuven, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
- J. Zejma
- Marian Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, 30-348 Kraków, Poland
- G. Zsigmond
- Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland; Corresponding authors. Address for correspondence for author G. Zsigmond: Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 812
p. 135993
Abstract
It has been proposed that there could be a mirror copy of the standard model particles, restoring the parity symmetry in the weak interaction on the global level. Oscillations between a neutral standard model particle, such as the neutron, and its mirror counterpart could potentially answer various standing issues in physics today. Astrophysical studies and terrestrial experiments led by ultracold neutron storage measurements have investigated neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations and imposed constraints on the theoretical parameters. Recently, further analysis of these ultracold neutron storage experiments has yielded statistically significant anomalous signals that may be interpreted as neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations, assuming nonzero mirror magnetic fields. The neutron electric dipole moment collaboration performed a dedicated search at the Paul Scherrer Institute and found no evidence of neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations. Thereby, the following new lower limits on the oscillation time were obtained: τnn′>352 s at B′=0 (95% C.L.), τnn′>6s for 0.4μT9s for 5.0μT<B′<25.4μT (95% C.L.), where β is the fixed angle between the applied magnetic field and the local mirror magnetic field, which is assumed to be bound to the Earth. These new constraints are the best measured so far around B′∼10μT and B′∼20μT.
