Improved limits on n →n′ transformation from the Spallation Neutron Source

Francisco M. Gonzalez; Cary Rock; Leah J. Broussard; Lisa Debeer-Schmitt; Matthew J. Frost; Lawrence Heilbronn; Erik B. Iverson; Yuri Kamyshkov; Michael Kline; David Milstead; Devyn Powers; James Rogers; Valentina Santoro; Shaun Vavra

doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.110.072022

Improved limits on n →n′ transformation from the Spallation Neutron Source

Francisco M. Gonzalez, Cary Rock, Leah J. Broussard, Lisa Debeer-Schmitt, Matthew J. Frost, Lawrence Heilbronn, Erik B. Iverson, Yuri Kamyshkov, Michael Kline, David Milstead, Devyn Powers, James Rogers, Valentina Santoro, Shaun Vavra

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Conversions between neutrons n and dark matter candidate sterile neutrons n′ have been proposed as a mechanism for baryon number B violation. In the case that there is a small mass difference Δm between the n and the n′ states, oscillations can be induced by compensating for Δm with a magnetic field. A search for such neutron oscillations was performed at the Spallation Neutron Source by looking for anomalous neutron transmission through a strongly absorbing cadmium wafer inside of a 6.6 T magnet. The approach described here saw no regenerated neutrons above background, which provides an improved limit for neutron-sterile neutron transformations for a range of Δm between 0.1 and 1000 neV.

Original language	English
Article number	072022
Journal	Physical Review D
Volume	110
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.072022
State	Published - Oct 1 2024

Funding

The authors thank Michael Fitzsimmons for useful discussions. This research was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics (Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725), by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program (Project No. 8215) of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. DOE, and in part by the U.S. DOE, Office of Science, Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) under the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship program. The research of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville group was partially supported by US DOE Grant No. DE-SC0023149. This research used resources at the Spallation Neutron Source, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The beam time was allocated to MagRef on proposal number IPTS-22937. This research was supported in part through research cyberinfrastructure resources and services provided by the Partnership for an Advanced Computing Environment (PACE) at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

Funders	Funder number
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
University of Tennessee
Office of Workforce Development for Teachers
Georgia Institute of Technology
Office of Science
Nuclear Physics	DE-AC05-00OR22725
Laboratory Directed Research and Development	8215
U.S. Department of Energy	DE-SC0023149

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10.1103/PhysRevD.110.072022

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Gonzalez, F. M., Rock, C., Broussard, L. J., Debeer-Schmitt, L., Frost, M. J., Heilbronn, L., Iverson, E. B., Kamyshkov, Y., Kline, M., Milstead, D., Powers, D., Rogers, J., Santoro, V., & Vavra, S. (2024). Improved limits on n →n′ transformation from the Spallation Neutron Source. Physical Review D, 110(7), Article 072022. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.072022

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abstract = "Conversions between neutrons n and dark matter candidate sterile neutrons n′ have been proposed as a mechanism for baryon number B violation. In the case that there is a small mass difference Δm between the n and the n′ states, oscillations can be induced by compensating for Δm with a magnetic field. A search for such neutron oscillations was performed at the Spallation Neutron Source by looking for anomalous neutron transmission through a strongly absorbing cadmium wafer inside of a 6.6 T magnet. The approach described here saw no regenerated neutrons above background, which provides an improved limit for neutron-sterile neutron transformations for a range of Δm between 0.1 and 1000 neV.",

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Improved limits on n →n′ transformation from the Spallation Neutron Source

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