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W. M. Snow

Publications and source records attributed to W. M. Snow.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
arXiv2016

Neutron Limit on the Strongly-Coupled Chameleon Field

The physical origin of the dark energy that causes the accelerated expansion rate of the universe is one of the major open questions of cosmology. One set of theories postulates the existence of a self-interacting scalar field for dark energy coupling to matter. In the chameleon dark energy theory, this coupling induces a screening mechanism such that the field amplitude is nonzero in empty space but is greatly suppressed in regions of terrestrial matter density. However measurements performed under appropriate vacuum conditions can enable the chameleon field to appear in the apparatus, where it can be subjected to laboratory experiments. Here we report the most stringent upper bound on the free neutron-chameleon coupling in the strongly-coupled limit of the chameleon theory using neutron interferometric techniques. Our experiment sought the chameleon field through the relative phase shift it would induce along one of the neutron paths inside a perfect crystal neutron interferometer. The amplitude of the chameleon field was actively modulated by varying the millibar pressures inside a dual-chamber aluminum cell. We report a 95% confidence level upper bound on the neutron-chameleon coupling $β$ ranging from $β< 4.7\times 10^6$ for a Ratra-Peebles index of n = 1 in the nonlinear scalar field potential to $β< 2.4\times 10^7$ for n = 6, one order of magnitude more sensitive than the most recent free neutron limit for intermediate n. Similar experiments can explore the full parameter range for chameleon dark energy in the foreseeable future.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2015

A First Experimental Limit on In-matter Torsion from Neutron Spin Rotation in Liquid He-4

We report the first experimental upper bound to our knowledge on possible in-matter torsion interactions of the neutron from a recent search for parity violation in neutron spin rotation in liquid He-4. Our experiment constrains a coefficient $ζ$ consisting of a linear combination of parameters involving the time components of the torsion fields $T^μ$ and $A^μ$ from the nucleons and electrons in helium which violates parity. We report an upper bound of $|ζ|<9.1x10^{-23}$ GeV at 68% confidence level and indicate other physical processes that could be analyzed to constrain in-matter torsion.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2015

New measurement of the scattering cross section of slow neutrons on liquid parahydrogen from neutron transmission

Liquid hydrogen is a dense Bose fluid whose equilibrium properties are both calculable from first principles using various theoretical approaches and of interest for the understanding of a wide range of questions in many body physics. Unfortunately, the pair correlation function $g(r)$ inferred from neutron scattering measurements of the differential cross section $dσ\over dΩ$ from different measurements reported in the literature are inconsistent. We have measured the energy dependence of the total cross section and the scattering cross section for slow neutrons with energies between 0.43~meV and 16.1~meV on liquid hydrogen at 15.6~K (which is dominated by the parahydrogen component) using neutron transmission measurements on the hydrogen target of the NPDGamma collaboration at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The relationship between the neutron transmission measurement we perform and the total cross section is unambiguous, and the energy range accesses length scales where the pair correlation function is rapidly varying. At 1~meV our measurement is a factor of 3 below the data from previous work. We present evidence that these previous measurements of the hydrogen cross section, which assumed that the equilibrium value for the ratio of orthohydrogen and parahydrogen has been reached in the target liquid, were in fact contaminated with an extra non-equilibrium component of orthohydrogen. Liquid parahydrogen is also a widely-used neutron moderator medium, and an accurate knowledge of its slow neutron cross section is essential for the design and optimization of intense slow neutron sources. We describe our measurements and compare them with previous work.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2014

Determination of the Free Neutron Lifetime

We present the status of current US experimental efforts to measure the lifetime of the free neutron by the "beam" and "bottle" methods. BBN nucleosynthesis models require accurate measurements with 1 second uncertainties, which are currently feasible. For tests of physics beyond the standard model, future efforts will need to achieve uncertainties well below 1 second. We outline paths achieve both.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2014

Fundamental Neutron Physics Beamline at the Spallation Neutron Source at ORNL

We describe the Fundamental Neutron Physics Beamline (FnPB) facility located at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The FnPB was designed for the conduct of experiments that investigate scientific issues in nuclear physics, particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology using a pulsed slow neutron beam. We present a detailed description of the design philosophy, beamline components, and measured fluxes of the polychromatic and monochromatic beams.

physics.ins-det↗
arXiv2014

QCD and strongly coupled gauge theories: challenges and perspectives

We highlight the progress, current status, and open challenges of QCD-driven physics, in theory and in experiment. We discuss how the strong interaction is intimately connected to a broad sweep of physical problems, in settings ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to strongly-coupled, complex systems in particle and condensed-matter physics, as well as to searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. We also discuss how success in describing the strong interaction impacts other fields, and, in turn, how such subjects can impact studies of the strong interaction. In the course of the work we offer a perspective on the many research streams which flow into and out of QCD, as well as a vision for future developments.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2013

Improved Determination of the Neutron Lifetime

The most precise determination of the neutron lifetime using the beam method was completed in 2005 and reported a result of $τ_n = (886.3 \pm 1.2 [\textrm{stat}] \pm 3.2 [\textrm{syst}])$ s. The dominant uncertainties were attributed to the absolute determination of the fluence of the neutron beam (2.7 s). The fluence was measured with a neutron monitor that counted the neutron-induced charged particles from absorption in a thin, well-characterized 6Li deposit. The detection efficiency of the monitor was calculated from the areal density of the deposit, the detector solid angle, and the evaluated nuclear data file, ENDF/B-VI 6Li(n,t)4He thermal neutron cross section. In the current work, we have measured the detection efficiency of the same monitor used in the neutron lifetime measurement with a second, totally-absorbing neutron detector. This direct approach does not rely on the 6Li(n,t)4He cross section or any other nuclear data. The detection efficiency is consistent with the value used in 2005 but was measured with a precision of 0.057 %, which represents a five-fold improvement in the uncertainty. We have verified the temporal stability of the neutron monitor through ancillary measurements, allowing us to apply the measured neutron monitor efficiency to the lifetime result from the 2005 experiment. The updated lifetime is $τ_n = (887.7 \pm 1.2 [\textrm{stat}] \pm 1.9 [\textrm{syst}])$ s.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2013

Baryon Number Violation

This report, prepared for the Community Planning Study - Snowmass 2013 - summarizes the theoretical motivations and the experimental efforts to search for baryon number violation, focussing on nucleon decay and neutron-antineutron oscillations. Present and future nucleon decay search experiments using large underground detectors, as well as planned neutron-antineutron oscillation search experiments with free neutron beams are highlighted.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2013

A Laboratory Search for a Long-Range T-odd, P-odd Interaction from Axion-Like Particles using Dual Species Nuclear Magnetic Resonance with Polarized Xe-129 and Xe-131 Gas

We place new limits on potential T- and P- violating monopole-dipole interactions between unpolarized nucleons and neutrons using dual species magnetic resonance in polarzed Xe gas. Free-induction decay transients with relaxation times ~20 s allow high precision measurements of the NMR frequencies, whose ratios cancel magnetic fluctuations. The new limits on the product gsgp improve on previous laboratory work by 2 orders of magnitude.

physics.atom-ph↗
arXiv2013

A frequency determination method for digitized NMR signals

We present a high precision frequency determination method for digitized NMR FID signals. The method employs high precision numerical integration rather than simple summation as in many other techniques. With no independent knowledge of the other parameters of a NMR FID signal (phase $ϕ$, amplitude $A$, and transverse relaxation time $T_{2}$) this method can determine the signal frequency $f_{0}$ with a precision of $1/(8π^{2}f_{0}^{2}T_{2}^{2})$ if the observation time $T$ is long enough. The method is especially convenient when the detailed shape of the observed FT NMR spectrum is not well defined. When $T_{2}$ is $+\infty$ and the signal becomes pure sinusoidal, the precision of the method is $3/(2π^{2}f_{0}^{2}T^{2})$ which is one order more precise than a typical frequency counter. Analysis of this method shows that the integration reduces the noise by bandwidth narrowing as in a lock-in amplifier, and no extra signal filters are needed. For a pure sinusoidal signal we find from numerical simulations that the noise-induced error in this method reaches the Cramer-Rao Lower Band(CRLB) on frequency determination. For the damped sinusoidal case of most interest, the noise-induced error is found to be within a factor of 2 of CRLB when the measurement time $T$ is a few times larger than $T_{2}$.We discuss possible improvements for the precision of this method.

physics.comp-ph↗
arXiv2012

A New Limit on Possible Long-Range Parity-odd Interactions of the Neutron from Neutron Spin Rotation in Liquid $^{4}He$

Various theories beyond the Standard Model predict new particles with masses in the sub-eV range with very weak couplings to ordinary matter. A parity-odd interaction between polarized nucleons and unpolarized matter proportional to $g_{V}g_{A}{\vec{s}} \cdot {\vec{p}}$ is one such possibility, where ${\vec{s}}$ and ${\vec{p}}$ are the spin and the momentum of the polarized nucleon, and $g_{V}$ and $g_{A}$ are the vector and axial vector couplings of an interaction induced by the exchange of a new light vector boson. We report a new experimental upper bound on such possible long-range parity-odd interactions of the neutron with nucleons and electrons from a recent search for parity violation in neutron spin rotation in liquid $^{4}He$. Our constraint on the product of vector and axial vector couplings of a possible new light vector boson is $g_{V}g_{A}^{n} \leq 10^{-32}$ for an interaction range of 1m. This upper bound is more than seven orders of magnitude more stringent than the existing laboratory constraints for interaction ranges below 1m, corresponding to a broad range of vector boson masses above $10^{-6}$ eV. More sensitive searches for a $g_{V}g_{A}^{n}$ coupling could be performed using neutron spin rotation measurements in heavy nuclei or through analysis of experiments conducted to search for nucleon-nucleon weak interactions and nuclear anapole moments.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2012

Search for Spin-Dependent Short-Range Force Using Optically Polarized $^3$He Gas

We propose a new method to detect short-range \textit{P-} and \textit{T-} violating interactions between nucleons, based on measuring the precession frequency shift of polarized $^3$He nuclei in the presence of an unpolarized mass. To maximize the sensitivity, a high-pressure $^3$He cell with thin glass windows (250 $\rmμm$) is used to minimize the distance between the mass and $^3$He. The magnetic field fluctuation is suppressed by using the $^3$He gas in a different region of the cell as a magnetometer. Systematic uncertainties from the magnetic properties of the mass are suppressed by flipping both the magnetic field and spin directions. Without any magnetic shielding, our result has already reached the sensitivity of the current best limit. With improvement in uniformity and stability of the field, we can further improve the sensitivity by two orders of magnitude over the force range from $10^{-4}-10^{-2}$ m.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2011

Limits on possible new spin-spin interactions between neutrons from measurements of the Longitudinal Spin Relaxation Rate of Polarized $^{3}$He Gas

New particles with masses in the sub-eV range have been predicted by various theories beyond the Standard Model. Some can induce new spin-spin interactions between fermions. Existing constraints on such interactions between nucleons with mesoscopic ranges (millimeters to nanometers) are quite poor. Polarized $^{3}$He gas is an especially clean system to use to constrain these possible new spin-spin interactions because the spin-independent atomic potential between helium atoms is well-characterized experimentally. The small effects from binary atomic collisions in a polarized gas from magnetic dipole-dipole and other possible weak spin-spin interactions which lead to spin relaxation can be calculated perturbatively. We compare existing measurements of the longitudinal spin relaxation rate $Γ_{1}$ of polarized $^3$He gas with theoretical calculations and set a $1σ$ upper bound on the pseudoscalar coupling strength $g_p$ for possible new neutron-neutron dipole-dipole interactions of $g_p^{(n)}g_p^{(n)}/4π\le 1.7\times 10^{-3}$ for distances larger than 100 nm. We also set new direct limits on possible gravitational torsion interactions between neutrons.

physics.atom-ph↗
arXiv2009

A liquid helium target system for a measurement of parity violation in neutron spin rotation

A liquid helium target system was designed and built to perform a precision measurement of the parity-violating neutron spin rotation in helium due to the nucleon-nucleon weak interaction. The measurement employed a beam of low energy neutrons that passed through a crossed neutron polarizer--analyzer pair with the liquid helium target system located between them. Changes between the target states generated differences in the beam transmission through the polarizer--analyzer pair. The amount of parity-violating spin rotation was determined from the measured beam transmission asymmetries. The expected parity-violating spin rotation of order $10^{-6}$ rad placed severe constraints on the target design. In particular, isolation of the parity-odd component of the spin rotation from a much larger background rotation caused by magnetic fields required that a nonmagnetic cryostat and target system be supported inside the magnetic shielding, while allowing nonmagnetic motion of liquid helium between separated target chambers. This paper provides a detailed description of the design, function, and performance of the liquid helium target system.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2008

Neutronic Design and Measured Performance of the Low Energy Neutron Source (LENS) Target Moderator Reflector Assembly

The Low Energy Neutron Source (LENS) is an accelerator-based pulsed cold neutron facility under construction at the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility (IUCF). The idea behind LENS is to produce pulsed cold neutron beams starting with ~MeV neutrons from (p,n) reactions in Be which are moderated to meV energies and extracted from a small solid angle for use in neutron instruments which can operate efficiently with relatively broad (~1 msec) neutron pulse widths. Although the combination of the features and operating parameters of this source is unique at present, the neutronic design possesses several features similar to those envisioned for future neutron facilities such as long-pulsed spallation sources (LPSS) and very cold neutron (VCN) sources. We describe the underlying ideas and design details of the target/moderator/reflector system (TMR) and compare measurements of its brightness, energy spectrum, and emission time distribution under different moderator configurations with MCNP simulations. Brightness measurements using an ambient temperature water moderator agree with MCNP simulations within the 20% accuracy of the measurement. The measured neutron emission time distribution from a solid methane moderator is in agreement with simulation and the cold neutron flux is sufficient for neutron scattering studies of materials. We describe some possible modifications to the existing design which would increase the cold neutron brightness with negligible effect on the emission time distribution.

physics.ins-det↗