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Ulrich Schmidt

Publications and source records attributed to Ulrich Schmidt.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2025

URANOS -- a novel voxel engine Neutron Transport Monte-Carlo Simulation

URANOS is a newly developed 3D neutron transport Monte-Carlo code from thermal to fast energy domains. It was originally developed for the CASCADE detector. The purpose of this simulation program is to provide a fast computational workflow and an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) for small to medium-sized projects. It features a ray-casting algorithm based on a voxel engine. The simulation domain is defined layerwise, whereas the geometry is extruded from a pixel matrix of materials, identified by specific numbers. Input files are a stack of pictures, all other settings, including the configuration of predefined sources, can be adjusted via the GUI. The scattering kernel features the treatment of elastic and inelastic collisions, absorption and absorption-like processes like evaporation. Cross sections, energy distributions and angular distributions are taken from evaluated data bases. In order to simulate boron-lined detectors it also models the charged particle transport following the conversion by computing the energy loss in the boron and its consecutive layer. The electron track is then projected onto a readout unit by longitudinal and transversal diffusion. URANOS is freely available and can be used to simulate the response function of boron-lined or epithermal neutron detectors, small-scale laboratory setups and especially transport studies of cosmic-ray induced environmental neutrons. It offers an easy accessibility and comparably simple interface capable of handling complex geometries. URANOS therefore offers possibilities to understand and simulate the neutron environment at instruments, which would otherwise require extensive modeling and training on dedicated packages.

physics.comp-ph↗
arXiv2025

High-Density Ultracold Neutron Source for Low-Energy Particle Physics Experiments

SuperSUN, a new superthermal source of ultracold neutrons (UCN) at the Institut Laue-Langevin, exploits inelastic scattering of neutrons in isotopically pure superfluid $^4$He at temperatures below $0.6\,$K. For the first time, continuous operation with an intense broad-spectrum cold neutron beam is demonstrated over 60 days. We observe continuous UCN extraction rates of $21000\,$s$^{-1}$, and storage in the source with saturated density $273\,$cm$^{-3}$. The low-energy $\textit{in-situ}$ UCN spectrum is alterable via accumulation and holding delays, opening new possibilities in fundamental and applied physics.

physics.ins-det↗
arXiv2025

Depolarization studies on low-depolarizing Cu/Ti and Ni(Mo)/Ti neutron supermirrors

Neutron supermirrors (SMs) are a crucial part of many scattering and particle physics experiments. So far, Ni(Mo)/Ti SMs have been used in experiments that require to transport a polarized neutron beam due to their lower saturation magnetization compared to Ni/Ti SMs. However, next generation $\beta$ decay experiments require SMs that depolarize below $10^{-4}$ per reflection to reach their targeted precision. The depolarization of a polarized neutron beam due to reflection from Ni(Mo)/Ti SMs has not yet been measured to that precision. Recently developed Cu/Ti SMs with a very low saturation magnetization compared to Ni(Mo)/Ti may serve as an alternative. In this paper, we test the performance of both mirrors. At a first stage, we present four-states polarized neutron reflectivity (PNR) curves of Ni(Mo) and Cu monolayers measured at the neutron reflectometer SuperADAM and perform a full polarization analysis, showing a difference between the magnetic scattering length density (mSLD) of both materials, with Cu having a lower mSLD than Ni(Mo). These results are corroborated with the full polarization analysis of four-states PNR curves of $m=2$ Ni(Mo)/Ti and Cu/Ti SMs. In a second stage, we measured the depolarization ($D$) that a polarized neutron beam suffers after reflection from the same Ni(Mo)/Ti and Cu/Ti SMs by using the Opaque Test Bench setup. We find upper limits for the depolarization of $D_\text{Cu/Ti(4N5)}<7.6\times 10^{-5}$, $D_\text{Ni(Mo)/Ti}<8.5\times 10^{-5}$, and $D_\text{Cu/Ti(2N6)}<6.0\times 10^{-5}$ at the $1\sigma$ confidence level, where (4N5) corresponds to a Ti purity of $99.995\%$ and (2N6) to $99.6\%$. The uncertainties are statistical. These results show that all three SMs are suitable for being used in next generation $\beta$ decay experiments. We found no noticeable dependence of $D$ on the $q$ value or the magnetizing field, in which the samples were placed.

physics.ins-det↗
arXiv2023

Degaussing Procedure and Performance Enhancement by Low-Frequency Shaking of a 3-Layer Magnetically Shielded Room

We report on the performance of a Magnetically Shielded Room (MSR) intended for next level $^3$He/$^{129}$Xe co-magnetometer experiments which require improved magnetic conditions. The MSR consists of three layers of Mu-metal with a thickness of 3 mm each, and one additional highly conductive copper-coated aluminum layer with a thickness of 10 mm. It has a cubical shape with an walk-in interior volume with an edge length of 2560 mm. An optimized degaussing (magnetic equilibration) procedure using a frequency sweep with constant amplitude followed by an exponential decay of the amplitude will be presented. The procedure for the whole MSR takes 21 minutes and measurements of the residual magnetic field at the center of the MSR show that $|B|<1$ nT can be reached reliably. The chosen degaussing procedure will be motivated by online hysteresis measurements of the assembled MSR and by Eddy current simulations showing that saturation at the center of the Mu-metal layer is reached. Shielding Factors can be improved by a factor $\approx 4$ in all directions by low frequency (0.2 Hz), low current (1 A) shaking of the outermost Mu-metal layer.

physics.ins-det↗
arXiv2019

Design of the Magnet System of the Neutron Decay Facility PERC

The PERC (Proton and Electron Radiation Channel) facility is currently under construction at the research reactor FRM II, Garching. It will serve as an intense and clean source of electrons and protons from neutron beta decay for precision studies. It aims to contribute to the determination of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa quark-mixing element $V_{ud}$ from neutron decay data and to search for new physics via new effective couplings. PERC's central component is a 12m long superconducting magnet system. It hosts an 8m long decay region in a uniform field. An additional high-field region selects the phase space of electrons and protons which can reach the detectors and largely improves systematic uncertainties. We discuss the design of the magnet system and the resulting properties of the magnetic field.

physics.ins-det↗
arXiv2018

ANNI - A pulsed cold neutron beam facility for particle physics at the ESS

Pulsed beams have tremendous advantages for precision experiments with cold neutrons. In order to minimise and measure systematic effects, they are used at continuous sources in spite of the related substantial decrease in intensity. At the European Spallation Source ESS these experiments will profit from the pulse structure of the source and its 50 times higher peak brightness compared to the most intense reactor facilities, making novel concepts feasible. Therefore, the cold neutron beam facility for particle physics ANNI was proposed as part of the ESS instrument suite. The proposed design has been re-optimised to take into account the present ESS cold moderator layout. We present design considerations, the optimised instrument parameters and performance, and expected gain factors for several reference experiments.

physics.ins-det↗
arXiv2016

Limit on Lorentz-Invariance- and CPT-Violating Neutron Spin Interactions Using a $^3$He-$^{129}$Xe Comagnetometer

We performed a search for a Lorentz-invariance- and CPT-violating coupling of the $^3$He and $^{129}$Xe nuclear spins to posited background fields. Our experimental approach is to measure the free precession of nuclear spin polarized $^3$He and $^{129}$Xe atoms using SQUID detectors. As the laboratory reference frame rotates with respect to distant stars, we look for a sidereal modulation of the Larmor frequencies of the co-located spin samples. As a result we obtain an upper limit on the equatorial component of the background field $\tilde{b}^n_{\bot}< 8.4 \cdot 10^{-34}$ GeV (68\% C.L.). Furthermore, this technique was modified to search for an electric dipole moment (EDM) of $^{129}$Xe.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2013

Constraints on Spin-Dependent Short-Range Interaction between Nucleons

We report on the search for a new spin-dependent P- and T-violating interaction between nucleons mediated by light, pseudoscalar bosons such as the axion which was invented to solve the strong CP problem. Our experimental approach is to use an ultra-sensitive low-field magnetometer based on the detection of free precession of co-located 3He and 129Xe nuclear spins using SQUIDs as low-noise magnetic flux detectors. In the presence of an unpolarized mass the precession frequency shif

hep-ex↗