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Register a new userUnderground tests of quantum mechanics. Whispers in the cosmic silence?
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By performing X-rays measurements in the cosmic silence of the underground laboratory of Gran Sasso, LNGS-INFN, we test a basic principle of quantum mechanics: the Pauli Exclusion Principle (PEP), for electrons. We present the achieved results of the VIP experiment and the ongoing VIP2 measurement aiming to gain two orders of magnitude improvement in testing PEP. We also use a similar experimental technique to search for radiation (X and gamma) predicted by continuous spontaneous localization models, which aim to solve the measurement problem.
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We are experimentally investigating possible violations of standard quantum mechanics predictions in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory in Italy. We test with high precision the Pauli Exclusion Principle and the collapse of the wave function (collapse models). We present our method of searching for possible small violations of the Pauli Exclusion Principle (PEP) for electrons, through the search for anomalous X-ray transitions in copper atoms, produced by fresh electrons (brought inside the copper bar by circulating current) which can have the probability to undergo Pauli-forbidden transition to the 1 s level already occupied by two electrons and we describe the VIP2 (VIolation of PEP) experiment under data taking at the Gran Sasso underground laboratories. In this paper the new VIP2 setup installed in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory will be presented. The goal of VIP2 is to test the PEP for electrons with unprecedented accuracy, down to a limit in the probability that PEP is violated at the level of 10$^{-31}$. We show preliminary experimental results and discuss implications of a possible violation.
The validity of the Pauli Exclusion Principle, a building block of Quantum Mechanics, is tested for electrons. The VIP (VIolation of Pauli exclusion principle) and its follow-up VIP-2 experiments at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso search for x-rays from copper atomic transition that are prohibited by the Pauli Exclusion Principle. The candidate events, if they exist, originate from the transition of a $2p$ orbit electron to the ground state which is already occupied by two electrons. The present limit on the probability for Pauli Exclusion Principle violation for electrons set by the VIP experiment is 4.7 $times$ 10 $^{-29}$. We report a first result from the VIP-2 experiment improving on the VIP limit, that solidifies the final goal to achieve a two order of magnitude gain in the long run.
The relevant interaction energies for astrophysical radiative capture reactions are very low, much below the repulsive Coulomb barrier. This leads to low cross sections, low counting rates in $gamma$-ray detectors, and therefore the need to perform such experiments at ion accelerators placed in underground settings, shielded from cosmic rays. Here, the feasibility of such experiments in the new shallow-underground accelerator laboratory in tunnels VIII and IX of the Felsenkeller site in Dresden, Germany, is evaluated. To this end, the no-beam background in three different types of germanium detectors, i.e. a Euroball/Miniball triple cluster and two large monolithic detectors, is measured over periods of 26-66 days. The cosmic-ray induced background is found to be reduced by a factor of 500-2400, by the combined effects of, first, the 140 meters water equivalent overburden attenuating the cosmic muon flux by a factor of 40, and second, scintillation veto detectors gating out most of the remaining muon-induced effects. The new background data are compared to spectra taken with the same detectors at the Earths surface and at other underground sites. Subsequently, the beam intensity from the cesium sputter ion source installed in Felsenkeller has been studied over periods of several hours. Based on the background and beam intensity data reported here, for the example of the $^{12}$C($alpha$,$gamma$)$^{16}$O reaction it is shown that highly sensitive experiments will be possible.
The development of mathematically complete and consistent models solving the so-called measurement problem, strongly renewed the interest of the scientific community for the foundations of quantum mechanics, among these the Dynamical Reduction Models posses the unique characteristic to be experimentally testable. In the first part of the paper an upper limit on the reduction rate parameter of such models will be obtained, based on the analysis of the X-ray spectrum emitted by an isolated slab of germanium and measured by the IGEX experiment. The second part of the paper is devoted to present the results of the VIP (Violation of the Pauli exclusion principle) experiment and to describe its recent upgrade. The VIP experiment established a limit on the probability that the Pauli Exclusion Principle (PEP) is violated by electrons, using the very clean method of searching for PEP forbidden atomic transitions in copper.
LUX is a dual-phase xenon TPC designed for the direct detection of dark matter. Using 370 kg of xenon, LUX is capable of setting a WIMP-nucleon cross section limit at 2 x 10^-46 cm^2 after 300 days of running. LUX will surpass all existing dark matter limits for WIMP masses above 10 GeV within weeks of beginning its science run. Following a successful six month surface run, the detector has recently been deployed underground, and we expect completed commission in the near future. Updates on status and results are provided.
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