Search for the Neutron Decay n→X+γ, Where X is a Dark Matter Particle

Z. Tang; M. Blatnik; L. J. Broussard; J. H. Choi; S. M. Clayton; C. Cude-Woods; S. Currie; D. E. Fellers; E. M. Fries; P. Geltenbort; F. Gonzalez; K. P. Hickerson; T. M. Ito; C. Y. Liu; S. W.T. Macdonald; M. Makela; C. L. Morris; C. M. O'Shaughnessy; R. W. Pattie; B. Plaster; D. J. Salvat; A. Saunders; Z. Wang; A. R. Young; B. A. Zeck

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.022505

Search for the Neutron Decay n→X+γ, Where X is a Dark Matter Particle

Z. Tang, M. Blatnik, L. J. Broussard, J. H. Choi, S. M. Clayton, C. Cude-Woods, S. Currie, D. E. Fellers, E. M. Fries, P. Geltenbort, F. Gonzalez, K. P. Hickerson, T. M. Ito, C. Y. Liu, S. W.T. Macdonald, M. Makela, C. L. Morris, C. M. O'Shaughnessy, R. W. Pattie, B. PlasterD. J. Salvat, A. Saunders, Z. Wang, A. R. Young, B. A. Zeck

Neutron Symmetries

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Abstract

Fornal and Grinstein recently proposed that the discrepancy between two different methods of neutron lifetime measurements, the beam and bottle methods, can be explained by a previously unobserved dark matter decay mode, n→X+γ. We perform a search for this decay mode over the allowed range of energies of the monoenergetic γ ray for X to be dark matter. A Compton-suppressed high-purity germanium detector is used to identify γ rays from neutron decay in a nickel-phosphorous-coated stainless-steel bottle. A combination of Monte Carlo and radioactive source calibrations is used to determine the absolute efficiency for detecting γ rays arising from the dark matter decay mode. We exclude the possibility of a sufficiently strong branch to explain the lifetime discrepancy with 97% confidence.

Original language	English
Article number	022505
Journal	Physical Review Letters
Volume	121
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.022505
State	Published - Jul 11 2018

Funding

This work was supported by the Los Alamos Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) office (Grant No. 20140568DR), the LDRD Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) (Grant No. 8215), the National Science Foundation (Grants No. 130692, No. 1307426, No. 161454, No. 1506459, and No. 1553861), the Indiana University (IU) Center for Space Time Symmetries (IUCSS), and United States Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) Low Energy Nuclear Physics (Grants No. DE-FG02-97ER41042, No. DE-SC0014622, and No. DE-AC05-00OR22725). The authors would like to thank the staff of Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) for their diligent efforts to develop the diagnostics and new techniques required to provide the proton beam for this experiment.

Funders	Funder number
LLC	8215
Limited Liability Corporation
Los Alamos Laboratory Directed Research and Development
National Science Foundation	1506459, 130692, 1553861, 1307426, 161454, 1614545
U.S. Department of Energy	DE-AC05-00OR22725, DE-FG02-97ER41042, DE-SC0014622
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Indiana University
Laboratory Directed Research and Development	20140568DR
UT-Battelle
National Science Foundation

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10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.022505

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Tang, Z., Blatnik, M., Broussard, L. J., Choi, J. H., Clayton, S. M., Cude-Woods, C., Currie, S., Fellers, D. E., Fries, E. M., Geltenbort, P., Gonzalez, F., Hickerson, K. P., Ito, T. M., Liu, C. Y., Macdonald, S. W. T., Makela, M., Morris, C. L., O'Shaughnessy, C. M., Pattie, R. W., ... Zeck, B. A. (2018). Search for the Neutron Decay n→X+γ, Where X is a Dark Matter Particle. Physical Review Letters, 121(2), Article 022505. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.022505

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title = "Search for the Neutron Decay n→X+γ, Where X is a Dark Matter Particle",

abstract = "Fornal and Grinstein recently proposed that the discrepancy between two different methods of neutron lifetime measurements, the beam and bottle methods, can be explained by a previously unobserved dark matter decay mode, n→X+γ. We perform a search for this decay mode over the allowed range of energies of the monoenergetic γ ray for X to be dark matter. A Compton-suppressed high-purity germanium detector is used to identify γ rays from neutron decay in a nickel-phosphorous-coated stainless-steel bottle. A combination of Monte Carlo and radioactive source calibrations is used to determine the absolute efficiency for detecting γ rays arising from the dark matter decay mode. We exclude the possibility of a sufficiently strong branch to explain the lifetime discrepancy with 97% confidence.",

author = "Z. Tang and M. Blatnik and Broussard, {L. J.} and Choi, {J. H.} and Clayton, {S. M.} and C. Cude-Woods and S. Currie and Fellers, {D. E.} and Fries, {E. M.} and P. Geltenbort and F. Gonzalez and Hickerson, {K. P.} and Ito, {T. M.} and Liu, {C. Y.} and Macdonald, {S. W.T.} and M. Makela and Morris, {C. L.} and O'Shaughnessy, {C. M.} and Pattie, {R. W.} and B. Plaster and Salvat, {D. J.} and A. Saunders and Z. Wang and Young, {A. R.} and Zeck, {B. A.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 American Physical Society.",

year = "2018",

month = jul,

day = "11",

doi = "10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.022505",

language = "English",

volume = "121",

journal = "Physical Review Letters",

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Tang, Z, Blatnik, M, Broussard, LJ, Choi, JH, Clayton, SM, Cude-Woods, C, Currie, S, Fellers, DE, Fries, EM, Geltenbort, P, Gonzalez, F, Hickerson, KP, Ito, TM, Liu, CY, Macdonald, SWT, Makela, M, Morris, CL, O'Shaughnessy, CM, Pattie, RW, Plaster, B, Salvat, DJ, Saunders, A, Wang, Z, Young, AR & Zeck, BA 2018, 'Search for the Neutron Decay n→X+γ, Where X is a Dark Matter Particle', Physical Review Letters, vol. 121, no. 2, 022505. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.022505

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T1 - Search for the Neutron Decay n→X+γ, Where X is a Dark Matter Particle

AU - Tang, Z.

AU - Blatnik, M.

AU - Broussard, L. J.

AU - Choi, J. H.

AU - Clayton, S. M.

AU - Cude-Woods, C.

AU - Currie, S.

AU - Fellers, D. E.

AU - Fries, E. M.

AU - Geltenbort, P.

AU - Gonzalez, F.

AU - Hickerson, K. P.

AU - Ito, T. M.

AU - Liu, C. Y.

AU - Macdonald, S. W.T.

AU - Makela, M.

AU - Morris, C. L.

AU - O'Shaughnessy, C. M.

AU - Pattie, R. W.

AU - Plaster, B.

AU - Salvat, D. J.

AU - Saunders, A.

AU - Wang, Z.

AU - Young, A. R.

AU - Zeck, B. A.

PY - 2018/7/11

Y1 - 2018/7/11

N2 - Fornal and Grinstein recently proposed that the discrepancy between two different methods of neutron lifetime measurements, the beam and bottle methods, can be explained by a previously unobserved dark matter decay mode, n→X+γ. We perform a search for this decay mode over the allowed range of energies of the monoenergetic γ ray for X to be dark matter. A Compton-suppressed high-purity germanium detector is used to identify γ rays from neutron decay in a nickel-phosphorous-coated stainless-steel bottle. A combination of Monte Carlo and radioactive source calibrations is used to determine the absolute efficiency for detecting γ rays arising from the dark matter decay mode. We exclude the possibility of a sufficiently strong branch to explain the lifetime discrepancy with 97% confidence.

AB - Fornal and Grinstein recently proposed that the discrepancy between two different methods of neutron lifetime measurements, the beam and bottle methods, can be explained by a previously unobserved dark matter decay mode, n→X+γ. We perform a search for this decay mode over the allowed range of energies of the monoenergetic γ ray for X to be dark matter. A Compton-suppressed high-purity germanium detector is used to identify γ rays from neutron decay in a nickel-phosphorous-coated stainless-steel bottle. A combination of Monte Carlo and radioactive source calibrations is used to determine the absolute efficiency for detecting γ rays arising from the dark matter decay mode. We exclude the possibility of a sufficiently strong branch to explain the lifetime discrepancy with 97% confidence.

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VL - 121

JO - Physical Review Letters

JF - Physical Review Letters

IS - 2

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ER -

Search for the Neutron Decay n→X+γ, Where X is a Dark Matter Particle

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