arXiv subjects

H. Soltner

Publications and source records attributed to H. Soltner.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

First Experimental Limit on the Permanent Electric Dipole Moment of the Deuteron

Permanent electric dipole moments (EDMs) provide a sensitive probe of physics beyond the Standard Model and are directly linked to additional sources of CP violation that could explain the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe. EDM measurements of charged particles in storage rings rely on detecting a small tilt of the invariant spin axis with respect to the ring plane. In this work, we present the experimental determination of the invariant spin axis of an ensemble of deuterons in the COoler SYnchrotron (COSY), a conventional magnetic storage ring, using a combination of a radio-frequency Wien filter, a superconducting Siberian snake and an electron-cooler solenoid. The measurements reveal tilts of a few milliradians, which are dominated by systematic effects. From the observed tilts, we derive the first experimental limit on the deuteron EDM, $|d^d|< 2.5\cdot10^{-17}\,e\cdot\mathrm{cm} \; (95\%\,\text{ C.L.})$. This result demonstrates the feasibility of using storage rings to search for EDMs of charged stable hadrons and provides a foundation for future dedicated facilities.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2025

Eliminating beam-induced depolarizing effects in the hydrogen jet target for high-precision proton beam polarimetry at the Electron-Ion Collider

We analyze beam-induced depolarizing effects in the hydrogen jet target (HJET) at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) that has been used for absolute hadron beam polarimetry and shall be employed at the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). The EIC's higher bunch repetition frequencies and shorter bunch durations shift beam harmonics to frequencies that can resonantly drive hyperfine transitions in hydrogen, threatening to depolarize the target atoms. Using frequency-domain analysis of beam harmonics and hyperfine transition frequencies, we establish a photon emission threshold above which beam-induced fields are too weak to cause significant depolarization. For EIC injection (\SI{23.5}{\GeV}) and flattop (\SI{275}{\GeV}), beam-induced depolarization through the bunch structure renders operation at the current RHIC magnetic guide field at the target of $B_0 = \SI{120}{\milli\tesla}$ untenable. Increasing the magnetic guide field at the target to $B_0 \approx \SI{400}{\milli\tesla}$ moves all hyperfine transition frequencies to at least three times the cutoff frequency, ensuring reliable absolute beam polarimetry with the required 1\% precision at the EIC.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2025

Maintaining a Resonance Condition of an RF Spin Rotator Through a Feedback Loop in a Storage Ring

This paper presents the successful application of a phase-lock feedback system to maintain the resonance condition of a radio frequency (rf) spin rotator (specifically, an rf Wien filter) with respect to a 120 kHz spin precession in the Cooler Synchrotron (COSY) storage ring. Real-time monitoring of the spin precession and the rf Wien filter signal allows the relative phase between the two to be stabilized at an arbitrary setpoint. The feedback system compensates for deviations in the relative phase by adjusting the frequency and/or phase as needed. With this method, a variation in phase relative to the demand phase with a standard deviation of $\sigma_{\Delta\varphi}\approx 0.2\mathrm{rad}$ could be achieved. The system was implemented in two runs aiming at a first direct measurement of the deuteron electric dipole moment in 2018 and 2021. In addition, the difference between a single-bunch beam affected by the spin rotator and a two-bunch system in which only one bunch is exposed to the spin rotator fields is discussed. Both methods have been used during these beam times. The ability to keep the spin precession and the rf fields synchronized is also crucial for future investigations of electric dipole moments of charged particles using storage rings.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2023

A Universal Method to Generate Hyperpolarisation in Beams and Samples

Sizable hyperpolarisation, i.e. an imbalance of the occupation numbers of nuclear spins in a sample deviating from thermal equilibrium, is needed in various fields of science. For example, hyperpolarised tracers are utilised in magnetic resonance imaging in medicine (MRI) and polarised beams and targets are employed in nuclear physics to study the spin dependence of nuclear forces. Here we show that the quantum interference of transitions induced by radio-wave pumping with longitudinal and radial pulses are able to produce large polarisations at small magnetic fields. This method is easier than established methods, theoretically understood and experimentally proven for beams of metastable hydrogen atoms in the keV energy range. It should also work for a variety of samples at rest. Thus, this technique opens the door for a new generation of polarised tracers, possibly low-field MRI with better spatial resolution or the production of polarised fuel to increase the efficiency of fusion reactors by manipulating the involved cross sections.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2023

Spin decoherence and off-resonance behavior of radiofrequency-driven spin rotations in storage rings

Radiofrequency-driven resonant spin rotators are routinely used as standard instruments in polarization experiments in particle and nuclear physics. Maintaining the continuous exact parametric spin-resonance condition of the equality of the spin rotator and the spin precession frequency during operation constitutes one of the challenges. We present a detailed analytic description of the impact of detuning the exact spin resonance on the vertical and the in-plane precessing components of the polarization. An important part of the formalism presented here is the consideration of experimentally relevant spin-decoherence effects. We discuss applications of the developed formalism to the interpretation of the experimental data on the novel pilot bunch approach to control the spin-resonance condition during the operation of the radiofrequency-driven Wien filter that is used as a spin rotator in the first direct deuteron electric dipole moment measurement at COSY. We emphasize the potential importance of the hitherto unexplored phase of the envelope of the horizontal polarization as an indicator of the stability of the radiofrequency-driven spin rotations in storage rings. The work presented here serves as a satellite publication to the work published concurrently on the proof of principle experiment about the so-called pilot bunch approach that was developed to provide co-magnetometry for the deuteron electric dipole moment experiment at COSY.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2023

Pilot bunch and co-magnetometry of polarized particles stored in a ring

In polarization experiments at storage rings, one of the challenges is to maintain the spin-resonance condition of a radio-frequency spin rotator with the spin-precessions of the orbiting particles. Time-dependent variations of the magnetic fields of ring elements lead to unwanted variations of the spin precession frequency. We report here on a solution to this problem by shielding (or masking) one of the bunches stored in the ring from the high-frequency fields of the spin rotator, so that the masked pilot bunch acts as a co-magnetometer for the other signal bunch, tracking fluctuations in the ring on a time scale of about one second. While the new method was developed primarily for searches of electric dipole moments of charged particles, it may have far-reaching implications for future spin physics facilities, such as the EIC and NICA.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2022

A high-density polarized 3He gas-jet target for laser-plasma applications

A laser-driven spin-polarized 3He2+ beam source for nuclear-physics experiments and for the investigation of polarized nuclear fusion demands a high-density polarized 3He gas-jet target. Such a target requires a magnetic system providing a permanent homogeneous holding field for the nuclear spins plus a set of coils for adjusting the orientation of the polarization. Starting from a transport vessel at a maximum pressure of 3 bar, the helium gas is compressed for a short time and can be injected into a laser-interaction chamber through a non-magnetic opening valve and nozzle, thus forming jets with densities of about a few 10^19 cm-3 and widths of about 1 mm. The target comprises a 3D adjustment system for precise positioning of the jet relative to the laser focus. An auxiliary gas system provides remote target operation and flushing of the gas lines with Ar gas, which helps to reduce polarization losses. The design of the target, its operation procedures and first experimental results are presented.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2021

First detection of collective oscillations of a stored deuteron beam with an amplitude close to the quantum limit

We investigated coherent betatron oscillations of a deuteron beam in the storage ring COSY, excited by a detuned radio-frequency Wien filter. The beam oscillations were detected by conventional beam position monitors. With the currently available apparatus, we show that oscillation amplitudes down to \SI{1}{\micro \meter} can be detected. The interpretation of the response of the stored beam to the detuned radio-frequency Wien filter is based on simulations of the beam evolution in the lattice of the ring and realistic time-dependent 3D field maps of the Wien filter. Future measurements of the electric dipole moment of protons will, however, require control of the relative position of counter-propagating beams in the sub-picometer range. Since here the stored beam can be considered as a rarefied gas of uncorrelated particles, we moreover demonstrate that the amplitudes of the zero-point (ground state) betatron oscillations of individual particles are only a factor of about 10 larger than the Heisenberg uncertainty limit. As a consequence of this, we conclude that quantum mechanics does not preclude the control of the beam centroids to sub-picometer accuracy. The smallest Lorentz force exerted on a single particle that we have been able to determine is \SI{10}{aN}.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2020

Exploiting the Planck-Einstein Relation

The origin of quantum physics was the discovery of the base unit of electromagnetic action $h$ by Max Planck in 1900 when he analyzed the experimental results of the black body radiation. This permitted Albert Einstein a few years later to explain the photoelectric effect by the absorption of photons with an energy of $E = h \cdot f$. We exploit the Planck-Einstein relation in a new type of fundamental spectroscopic measurements of direct transitions between two states with energy differences of about 10 neV and induced frequencies of a few MHz. Employing a Lamb-shift polarimeter and a Sona transition unit, featuring a relatively simple magnetic field configuration of two opposing solenoidal coils, we were able to determine $f$ and measure $E$ independently. Only resonances corresponding to integer multiples of Planck's constant $h$ were observed in our setup, which can very well be explained quantitatively by the Schr\"odinger equation. This new method beautifully demonstrates the quantization in the micro-cosmos and allows one to measure the hyperfine splitting energies between the substates with $F=1$ and $m_F = -1, 0, +1$ of metastable hydrogen atoms as function of a magnetic field and, thus, to investigate the influence of QED corrections on the Breit-Rabi diagram.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2020

A New Beam Polarimeter at COSY to Search for Electric Dipole Moments of Charged Particles

A calorimetric polarimeter based on inorganic LYSO scintillators is described. It has been designed for use in a storage ring to search for electric dipole moments (EDM) of charged particles such as the proton and deuteron. Its development and first use was on the Cooler Synchrotron (COSY) at the Forschungszentrum J\"ulich with 0.97 GeV/c polarized deuterons, a particle and energy suitable for an EDM search. The search requires a polarimeter with high efficiency, large analyzing power, and stable operating characteristics. With typical beam momenta of about 1 GeV/c, the scattering of protons or deuterons from a carbon target into forward angles becomes a nearly optimal choice of an analyzing reaction. The polarimeter described here consists of 52 LYSO detector modules, arranged in 4 symmetric blocks (up, down, left, right) for energy determination behind plastic scintillators for particle identification via energy loss. The commissioning results of the current setup demonstrate that the polarimeter is ready to be employed in a first direct search for an EDM on the deuteron, which is planned at COSY in the next two years.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2020

Measurement of deuteron carbon vector analyzing powers in the kinetic energy range 170-380 MeV

A measurement of vector analyzing powers in elastic deuteron-carbon scattering has been performed at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY of Forschungszentrum J\"ulich, Germany. Seven kinetic beam energies between 170 and 380 MeV have been used. A vector-polarized beam from a polarized deuteron source was injected, accelerated to the final desired energy and stored in COSY. A thin needle-shaped diamond strip was used as a carbon target, onto which the beam was slowly steered. Elastically scattered deuterons were identified in the forward direction using various layers of scintillators and straw tubes. Where data exist in the literature (at 200 and 270 MeV), excellent agreement of the angular shape was found. The beam polarization of the presented data was deduced by fitting the absolute scale of the analyzing power to these references. Our results extend the world data set and are necessary for polarimetry of future electric dipole moment searches at storage rings. They will as well serve as an input for theoretical description of polarized hadron-hadron scattering.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2019

Storage Ring to Search for Electric Dipole Moments of Charged Particles -- Feasibility Study

The proposed method exploits charged particles confined as a storage ring beam (proton, deuteron, possibly $^3$He) to search for an intrinsic electric dipole moment (EDM) aligned along the particle spin axis. Statistical sensitivities could approach 10$^{-29}$ e$\cdot$cm. The challenge will be to reduce systematic errors to similar levels. The ring will be adjusted to preserve the spin polarisation, initially parallel to the particle velocity, for times in excess of 15 minutes. Large radial electric fields, acting through the EDM, will rotate the polarisation from the longitudinal to the vertical direction. The slow rise in the vertical polarisation component, detected through scattering from a target, signals the EDM. The project strategy is outlined. A stepwise plan is foreseen, starting with ongoing COSY activities that demonstrate technical feasibility. Achievements to date include reduced polarization measurement errors, long horizontal plane polarization lifetimes, and control of the polarization direction through feedback from scattering measurements. The project continues with a proof-of-capability measurement (precursor experiment; first direct deuteron EDM measurement), an intermediate prototype ring (proof-of-principle; demonstrator for key technologies), and finally a high-precision electric-field storage ring.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2019

Feasibility Study for an EDM Storage Ring

This project exploits charged particles confined as a storage ring beam (proton, deuteron, possibly $^3$He) to search for an intrinsic electric dipole moment (EDM, $\vec d$) aligned along the particle spin axis. Statistical sensitivities can approach $10^{-29}$~e$\cdot$cm. The challenge will be to reduce systematic errors to similar levels. The ring will be adjusted to preserve the spin polarization, initially parallel to the particle velocity, for times in excess of 15 minutes. Large radial electric fields, acting through the EDM, will rotate the polarization ($\vec d \times\vec E$). The slow rise in the vertical polarization component, detected through scattering from a target, signals the EDM. The project strategy is outlined. It foresees a step-wise plan, starting with ongoing COSY activities that demonstrate technical feasibility. Achievements to date include reduced polarization measurement errors, long horizontal-plane polarization lifetimes, and control of the polarization direction through feedback from the scattering measurements. The project continues with a proof-of-capability measurement (precursor experiment; first direct deuteron EDM measurement), an intermediate prototype ring (proof-of-principle; demonstrator for key technologies), and finally the high precision electric-field storage ring.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2018

Phase Measurement for Driven Spin Oscillations in a Storage Ring

This paper reports the first simultaneous measurement of the horizontal and vertical components of the polarization vector in a storage ring under the influence of a radio frequency (rf) solenoid. The experiments were performed at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY in Jülich using a vector polarized, bunched $0.97\,\textrm{GeV/c}$ deuteron beam. Using the new spin feedback system, we set the initial phase difference between the solenoid field and the precession of the polarization vector to a predefined value. The feedback system was then switched off, allowing the phase difference to change over time, and the solenoid was switched on to rotate the polarization vector. We observed an oscillation of the vertical polarization component and the phase difference. The oscillations can be described using an analytical model. The results of this experiment also apply to other rf devices with horizontal magnetic fields, such as Wien filters. The precise manipulation of particle spins in storage rings is a prerequisite for measuring the electric dipole moment (EDM) of charged particles.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2017

Phase locking the spin precession in a storage ring

This letter reports the successful use of feedback from a spin polarization measurement to the revolution frequency of a 0.97 GeV/$c$ bunched and polarized deuteron beam in the Cooler Synchrotron (COSY) storage ring in order to control both the precession rate ($\approx 121$ kHz) and the phase of the horizontal polarization component. Real time synchronization with a radio frequency (rf) solenoid made possible the rotation of the polarization out of the horizontal plane, yielding a demonstration of the feedback method to manipulate the polarization. In particular, the rotation rate shows a sinusoidal function of the horizontal polarization phase (relative to the rf solenoid), which was controlled to within a one standard deviation range of $σ= 0.21$ rad. The minimum possible adjustment was 3.7 mHz out of a revolution frequency of 753 kHz, which changes the precession rate by 26 mrad/s. Such a capability meets a requirement for the use of storage rings to look for an intrinsic electric dipole moment of charged particles.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2017

New method for a continuous determination of the spin tune in storage rings and implications for precision experiments

A new method to determine the spin tune is described and tested. In an ideal planar magnetic ring, the spin tune - defined as the number of spin precessions per turn - is given by $ν_s = γG$ (gamma is the Lorentz factor, $G$ the magnetic anomaly). For 970 MeV/c deuterons coherently precessing with a frequency of ~120 kHz in the Cooler Synchrotron COSY, the spin tune is deduced from the up-down asymmetry of deuteron carbon scattering. In a time interval of 2.6 s, the spin tune was determined with a precision of the order $10^{-8}$, and to $1 \cdot 10^{-10}$ for a continuous 100 s accelerator cycle. This renders the presented method a new precision tool for accelerator physics: controlling the spin motion of particles to high precision is mandatory, in particular, for the measurement of electric dipole moments of charged particles in a storage ring.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2016

Polynomial Chaos Expansion method as a tool to evaluate and quantify field homogeneities of a novel waveguide RF Wien Filter

For the measurement of the electric dipole moment of protons and deuterons, a novel waveguide RF Wien filter has been designed and will soon be integrated at the COoler SYnchrotron at Jülich. The device operates at the harmonic frequencies of the spin motion. It is based on a waveguide structure that is capable of fulfilling the Wien filter condition ($\vec{E} \perp \vec{B}$) \textit{by design}. The full-wave calculations demonstrated that the waveguide RF Wien filter is able to generate high-quality RF electric and magnetic fields. In reality, mechanical tolerances and misalignments decrease the simulated field quality, and it is therefore important to consider them in the simulations. In particular, for the electric dipole moment measurement, it is important to quantify the field errors systematically. Since Monte-Carlo simulations are computationally very expensive, we discuss here an efficient surrogate modeling scheme based on the Polynomial Chaos Expansion method to compute the field quality in the presence of tolerances and misalignments and subsequently to perform the sensitivity analysis at zero additional computational cost.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2016

Electromagnetic Simulation and Design of a Novel Waveguide RF Wien Filter for Electric Dipole Moment Measurements of Protons and Deuterons

The conventional Wien filter is a device with orthogonal static magnetic and electric fields, often used for velocity separation of charged particles. Here we describe the electromagnetic design calculations for a novel waveguide RF Wien filter that will be employed to solely manipulate the spins of protons or deuterons at frequencies of about 0.1 to 2 MHz at the COoler SYnchrotron COSY at Jülich. The device will be used in a future experiment that aims at measuring the proton and deuteron electric dipole moments, which are expected to be very small. Their determination, however, would have a huge impact on our understanding of the universe.

physics.ins-det↗