Measurement of the neutron β-asymmetry parameter A0 with ultracold neutrons

B. Plaster, R. Rios, H. O. Back, T. J. Bowles, L. J. Broussard, R. Carr, S. Clayton, S. Currie, B. W. Filippone, A. García, P. Geltenbort, K. P. Hickerson, J. Hoagland, G. E. Hogan, B. Hona, A. T. Holley, T. M. Ito, C. Y. Liu, J. Liu, M. MakelaR. R. Mammei, J. W. Martin, D. Melconian, M. P. Mendenhall, C. L. Morris, R. Mortensen, R. W. Pattie, A. Pérez Galván, M. L. Pitt, J. C. Ramsey, R. Russell, A. Saunders, R. Schmid, S. J. Seestrom, S. Sjue, W. E. Sondheim, E. Tatar, B. Tipton, R. B. Vogelaar, B. Vorndick, C. Wrede, Y. P. Xu, H. Yan, A. R. Young, J. Yuan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present a detailed report of a measurement of the neutron β-asymmetry parameter A0, the parity-violating angular correlation between the neutron spin and the decay electron momentum, performed with polarized ultracold neutrons (UCN). UCN were extracted from a pulsed spallation solid deuterium source and polarized via transport through a 7-T magnetic field. The polarized UCN were then transported through an adiabatic-fast-passage spin-flipper field region, prior to storage in a cylindrical decay volume situated within a 1-T 2×2π solenoidal spectrometer. The asymmetry was extracted from measurements of the decay electrons in multiwire proportional chamber and plastic scintillator detector packages located on both ends of the spectrometer. From an analysis of data acquired during runs in 2008 and 2009, we report A0=-0. 11966±0.00089-0.00140+0.00123, from which we extract a value for the ratio of the weak axial-vector and vector coupling constants of the nucleon, λ=gA/gV=-1.27590±0.00239-0.00377+0.00331. Complete details of the analysis are presented.

Original languageEnglish
Article number055501
JournalPhysical Review C - Nuclear Physics
Volume86
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 12 2012
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Measurement of the neutron β-asymmetry parameter A0 with ultracold neutrons'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this