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Selected Works of Robert W. Pattie Jr.
Article
Measurement of the Neutron Lifetime Using a Magneto-Gravitational Trap and in Situ Detection
Science (2018)
  • Robert W. Pattie, Jr., Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Nathan B. Callahan, Indiana University Bloomington
  • Chris Cude-Woods, Indiana University
  • Edith R. Adamek, Indiana University Bloomington
  • Leah J. Broussard, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
  • Stephen M. Clayton, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Scott A. Currie, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Eric B. Dees, North Carolina State University
  • Xiaoping Ding, Virginia Tech
  • Egbert M. Engel, Military Academy
  • D. E. Fellers, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • William Fox, Indiana University Bloomington
  • Peter Geltenbort, Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France.
  • Kevin P. Hickerson, California Institute of Technology
  • Mark A. Hoffbauer, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Anthony T. Holley, Tennessee Technological University
  • A. Komives, DePauw University
  • Chen Liu, Indiana University Bloomington
  • S. W. T. MacDonald, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Mark Makela, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Christopher L. Morris, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Joseph D. Ortiz, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • John C. Ramsey, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Daniel J. Salvat, University of Washington
  • Alexander Saunders, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Susan J. Seestrom, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • E. I. Sharapov, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
  • S. K. Sjue, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Zebo Tang, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • J. Vanderwerp, Indiana University Bloomington
  • Bruce Vogelaar, Virginia Tech
  • P. L. Walstrom, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Zhehui Wang, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Wei Wei, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • H. L. Weaver, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Judith W. Wexler, North Carolina State University
  • Tanner L. Womack, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Andrew R. Young, North Carolina State University
  • B. A. Zeck, North Carolina State University
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Abstract
The precise value of the mean neutron lifetime, tn, plays an important role in nuclear and particle physics and cosmology. It is used to predict the ratio of protons to helium atoms in the primordial universe and to search for physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. We eliminated loss mechanisms present in previous trap experiments by levitating polarized ultracold neutrons above the surface of an asymmetric storage trap using a repulsive magnetic field gradient so that the stored neutrons do not interact with material trap walls. As a result of this approach and the use of an in situ neutron detector, the lifetime reported here [877.7 ± 0.7 (stat) +0.4/–0.2 (sys) seconds] does not require corrections larger than the quoted uncertainties.
Keywords
  • Measurement,
  • neutron lifetime,
  • magneto-gravitational trap,
  • situ detection
Disciplines
Publication Date
May 11, 2018
DOI
10.1126/science.aan8895
Publisher Statement
This document is an author manuscript from arXiv. The publisher's final edited version of this article is available at Science.
Citation Information
Robert W. Pattie, Nathan B. Callahan, Chris Cude-Woods, Edith R. Adamek, et al.. "Measurement of the Neutron Lifetime Using a Magneto-Gravitational Trap and in Situ Detection" Science Vol. 360 Iss. 6389 (2018) p. 627 - 632
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/robert-pattie/7/