Skip to main content
profile image
Selected Works of Robert W. Pattie Jr.
Article
Search for Dark Matter Decay of the Free Neutron from the UCNA Experiment: n → χ + e^+e^−
Physical Review C (2018)
  • Xiaohui Sun, California Institute of Technology
  • Edith Adamek, Indiana University - Bloomington
  • Bruno Allgeier, University of Kentucky
  • Matthias A. Blatnik, California Institute of Technology
  • Thomas J. Bowles, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Leah J. Broussard, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Matthew A. Brown, Humana Military
  • Richard Carr, California Institute of Technology
  • Steven M. Clayton, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Chris Cude-Woods, North Carolina State University
  • Sonja Currie, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Eric B. Dees, North Carolina State University
  • Xingxing Ding, Virginia Tech
  • Bradley W. Filippone, California Institute of Technology
  • A. Bello García, University of Washington
  • Peter Geltenbort, Institut Laue-Langevin, France
  • Salajeghe Hasan, University of Kentucky
  • Kevin P. Hickerson, California Institute of Technology
  • J. Todd Hoagland, North Carolina State University
  • R. Hong, University of Washington
  • Gary E. Hogan, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Anthony T. Holley, Tennessee Tech University
  • Takeyasu M. Ito, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Amanda L. Knecht, Paul Scherrer Institut, Switzerland
  • Chao-Yu Liu, Indiana University - Bloomington
  • Jingyang Liu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
  • María Makela, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Russel Mammei, University of Winnipeg, Canada
  • J. W. Martin, Southern California Institute of Technology
  • Dan Melconian, Texas A&M University
  • Michael P. Mendenhall, W. K. Kellogg Radiation Laboratory
  • Stephen D. Moore, North Carolina State University
  • Charles L. Morris, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Sushil Nepal, University of Kentucky
  • N. Vahedi Nouri, University of Kentucky
  • Robert W. Pattie, Jr., North Carolina State University
  • A. Pérez Galván, California Institute of Technology
  • David G. Phillips, North Carolina State University
  • Richard H. Picker, California Institute of Technology
  • Margaret L. Pitt, Virginia Tech
  • Blakely A. Plaster, University of Kentucky
  • Jana C. Ramsey, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • R. Barreto Rios, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Daniel J. Salvat, University of Washington
  • Andy Saunders, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Walter Sondheim, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • S. Sjue, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Steven Slutsky, California Institute of Technology
  • Charles Swank, California Institute of Technology
  • Gyani Swift, Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory
  • E. Tatar, Idaho State University
  • R. Bruce Vogelaar, Virginia Tech
  • Brittany VornDick, North Carolina State University
  • Z. Wang, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Wanchun Wei, W. K. Kellogg Radiation Laboratory
  • J. Wexler, North Carolina State University
  • T. Womack, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Christopher Wrede, University of Washington
  • Andrew R. Young, North Carolina State University
  • B. A. Zeck, North Carolina State University
Download
Abstract
It has been proposed recently that a previously unobserved neutron decay branch to a dark matter particle (χ) could account for the discrepancy in the neutron lifetime observed in experiments that use two different measurement techniques. One of the possible final states discussed includes a single χalong with an e+e− pair. We use data from the UCNA (Ultracold Neutron Asymmetry) experiment to set limits on this decay channel. Coincident electron-like events are detected with ∼4π acceptance using a pair of detectors that observe a volume of stored ultracold neutrons. The summed kinetic energy (Ee+e−) from such events is used to set limits, as a function of the χ mass, on the branching fraction for this decay channel. For χ masses consistent with resolving the neutron lifetime discrepancy, we exclude this as the dominant dark matter decay channel at ≫5σ level for 100<Ee+e−<644keV. If the χ+e+e− final state is not the only one, we set limits on its branching fraction of <10−4 for the above Ee+e− range at >90% confidence level.
Keywords
  • Dark Matter,
  • Decay,
  • Free Neutron,
  • UCNA Experiment
Disciplines
Publication Date
May 21, 2018
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevC.97.052501
Publisher Statement
©2018 American Physical Society. Authors have the nonexclusive right to post the APS-prepared version of the article to an institutional repository. This document was originally published in Physical Review C.
Citation Information
Xiaohui Sun, Edith Adamek, Bruno Allgeier, Matthias A. Blatnik, et al.. "Search for Dark Matter Decay of the Free Neutron from the UCNA Experiment: n → χ + e^+e^−" Physical Review C Vol. 97 Iss. 5 (2018) p. 52501 ISSN: 2469-9985
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/robert-pattie/5/