Spectra of ultracold neutrons that appeared in experiments on neutron diffraction by a moving grating were measured using the time-of-flight Fourier spectrometer. Diffraction lines of five orders were observed simultaneously. The obtained data are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions based on the multiwave dynamical theory of neutron diffraction by a moving grating.
Our experiment using gravitationally trapped ultracold neutrons (UCN) to measure the neutron lifetime is reviewed. Ultracold neutrons were trapped in a material bottle covered with perfluoropolyether. The neutron lifetime was deduced from comparison of UCN losses in the traps with different surface-to-volume ratios. The precise value of the neutron lifetime is of fundamental importance to particle physics and cosmology. In this experiment, the UCN storage time is brought closer to the neutron lifetime than in any experiments before:the probability of UCN losses from the trap was only 1% of that for neutron beta decay. The neutron lifetime obtained,878.5+/-0.7stat+/-0.3sys s, is the most accurate experimental measurement to date.
An analytical method for diffraction of a plane electromagnetic wave at periodically-modulated graphene sheet is presented. Both interface corrugation and periodical change in the optical conductivity are considered. Explicit expressions for reflection, transmission, absorption and transformation coefficients in arbitrary diffraction orders are presented. The dispersion relation and decay rates for graphene plasmons of the grating are found. Simple analytical expressions for the value of the band gap in the vicinity of the first Brillouin zone edge is derived. The optimal amplitude and wavelength, guaranteeing the best matching of the incident light with graphene plasmons are found for the conductivity grating. The analytical results are in a good agreement with first-principle numeric simulations.
A method for diffracting the weak probe beam into unidirectional and higher-order directions is proposed via a novel Rydberg electromagnetically induced grating, providing a new way for the implementations of quantum devices with cold Rydberg atoms. The proposed scheme utilizes a suitable and position-dependent adjustment to the two-photon detuning besides the modulation of the standing-wave coupling field, bringing a in-phase modulation which can change the parity of the dispersion. We observe that when the modulation amplitude is appropriate, a perfect unidirectional diffraction grating can be realized. In addition, due to the mutual effect between the van der Waals (vdWs) interaction and the atom-field interaction length that deeply improves the dispersion of the medium, the probe energy can be counter-intuitively transferred into higher-order diffractions as increasing the vdWs interaction, leading to the realization of a controllable higher-order diffraction grating via strong blockade.
Two hypothesizes concerning interaction of neutrons with nanoparticles and having applications in the physics of ultracold neutron (UCN) were recently considered in ref. [Physics of Atomic Nuclei 65(3): 400 (2002)]; they were motivated by the experimental observation of small changes in energy of UCN upon their collisions with surface. The first hypothesis explaines the nature of the observed phenomenon by inelastic coherent scattering of UCN on nanoparticles weakly attached at surface, in a state of permanent thermal motion. It got experimental confirmed in ref. [Physics of Atomic Nuclei 65(11): 1996 (2002)]. The second hypothesis inverts the problem of neutron interaction with nanoparticles in the following sence. In all experiments with UCN, the trap-wall temperature was much higher than a temperature of about 1 mK, which corresponds to the UCN energy. Therefore, UCN preferentially increased their energy. The surface density of weakly attached nanoparticles was low. If, however, the nanoparticles temperature is lower than the neutron temperature and if the nanoparticles density is high, the problem of interaction of neutrons with nanoparticles is inverted. In this case, the neutrons can cool down, under certain conditions, owing tot heir scattering on ultracold-heavy-water, deuterium, and oxigen nanoparticles to their temperature of about 1 mK, with result that the UCN density increases by many orders of magnitude. In the present article we repeat the argumentation given in the first mentioned article and formulate in a very general way the research program in order to verify validity of this hypothesis. Both the theoretical and the experimental investigation of the problem are going to intensify in the near future.
A clock comparison experiment, analyzing the ratio of spin precession frequencies of stored ultracold neutrons and $^{199}$Hg atoms is reported. %57 No daily variation of this ratio could be found, from which is set an upper limit on the Lorentz invariance violating cosmic anisotropy field $b_{bot} < 2 times 10^{-20} {rm eV}$ (95% C.L.). This is the first limit for the free neutron. This result is also interpreted as a direct limit on the gravitational dipole moment of the neutron $|g_n| < 0.3 $eV/$c^2$ m from a spin-dependent interaction with the Sun. Analyzing the gravitational interaction with the Earth, based on previous data, yields a more stringent limit $|g_n| < 3 times 10^{-4} $eV/$c^2 $m.