Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Apr 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002aps..apri13007h&link_type=abstract
American Physical Society, April Meeting, Jointly Sponsored with the High Energy Astrophysics Division (HEAD) of the American As
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Magnetic confinement of UCN in an Ioffe-type superconducting magnetic trap should lead to an improved measurement of the neutron lifetime τ_n. The trap is loaded through inelastic scattering of 0.89 nm neutrons with phonons in superfluid ^4He cooled to 150 mK. When trapped neutrons decay, energetic decay electrons ionize helium atoms resulting in efficient conversion of electron kinetic energy into light (scintillation), which is then detected by photomultiplier tubes. The advantages of this technique over previous experiments are continuous detection of scintillations from decay electrons and the elimination of wall losses and betatron oscillations. Analysis indicates that systematic errors due to neutron losses should be controllable to 10-5τ_n. We have upgraded our apparatus by constructing a larger, deeper magnetic trap and are implementing techniques to substantially reduce backgrounds. The experiment is conducted at NIST, Gaithersburg facility and we will report its current status.
Coakley Kevin J.
Doyle John M.
Dzhosyuk S.
Golub R.
Huffman P. R.
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