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Mirror matter is considered as a candidate for dark matter. In connection with this an experimental search for neutron - mirror neutron (nn) transitions has been carried out using storage of ultracold neutrons in a trap with different magnetic fields. As a result, a new limit for the neutron - mirror neutron oscillation time has been obtained, tau_osc >= 448 s (90% C.L.), assuming that there is no mirror magnetic field larger than 100 nT. Besides a first attempt to obtain some restriction for mirror magnetic field has been done.
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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: $tau_{nn} > 352~$s at $B=0$ (95% C.L.), $tau_{nn} > 6~text{s}$ for all $0.4~mutext{T}<B<25.7~mutext{T}$ (95% C.L.), and $tau_{nn}/sqrt{cosbeta}>9~text{s}$ for all $5.0~mutext{T}<B<25.4~mutext{T}$ (95% C.L.), where $beta$ 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 $Bsim10~mu$T, and $Bsim20~mu$T.
In case a mirror world with a copy of our ordinary particle spectrum would exist, the neutron n and its degenerate partner, the mirror neutron ${rm n}$, could potentially mix and undergo ${rm nn}$ oscillations. The interaction of an ordinary magnetic field with the ordinary neutron would lift the degeneracy between the mirror partners, diminish the ${rm n}$-amplitude in the n-wavefunction and, thus, suppress its observability. We report an experimental comparison of ultracold neutron storage in a trap with and without superimposed magnetic field. No influence of the magnetic field is found and, assuming negligible mirror magnetic fields, a limit on the oscillation time $tau_{rm nn} > 103$ s (95% C.L.) is derived.
We performed ultracold neutron (UCN) storage measurements to search for additional losses due to neutron (n) to mirror-neutron (n) oscillations as a function of an applied magnetic field B. In the presence of a mirror magnetic field B, UCN losses would be maximal for B = B. We did not observe any indication for nn oscillations and placed a lower limit on the oscillation time of tau_{nn} > 12.0 s at 95% C.L. for any B between 0 and 12.5 uT.
Neutron lifetime is one of the most important physical constants which determines parameters of the weak interaction and predictions of primordial nucleosynthesis theory. There remains the unsolved problem of a 3.9{sigma} discrepancy between measurements of this lifetime using neutrons in beams and those with stored neutrons (UCN). In our experiment we measure the lifetime of neutrons trapped by Earths gravity in an open-topped vessel. Two configurations of the trap geometry are used to change the mean frequency of UCN collisions with the surfaces - this is achieved by plunging an additional surface into the trap without breaking the vacuum. The trap walls are coated with a hydrogen-less fluorine-containing polymer to reduce losses of UCN. The stability of this coating to multiple thermal cycles between 80 K and 300 K was tested. At 80 K, the probability of UCN loss due to collisions with the trap walls is just 1.5% of the probability of beta-decay. The free neutron lifetime is determined by extrapolation to an infinitely large trap with zero collision frequency. The result of these measurements is 881.5 +/- 0.7_stat +/- 0.6_syst s which is consistent with the conventional value of 880.2 +/- 1.0 s presented by the Particle Data Group. Future prospects for this experiment are in further cooling to 10 K which will lead to an improved accuracy of measurement. In conclusion we present an analysis of currently-available data on various measurements of the neutron lifetime.
Ultracold neutrons provide a unique tool for the study of neutron properties. An overview is given of the ultracold neutron (UCN) source at PSI, which produces the highest UCN intensities to fundamental physics experiments by exploiting the high intensity proton beam in combination with the high UCN yield in solid deuterium at a temperature of 5K. We briefly list important fundamental physics results based on measurements with neutrons at PSI.
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