An experimental search for possible exotic long range neutron-matter interactions using neutron spin rotation
Abstract
I present a detailed overview of an experiment that uses polarized cold neutrons to probe possible exotic long range neutron-matter interactions generated by single spin-1 boson exchange as envisioned in various possible extensions of the Standard Model. The experiment took place on the cold neutron beam line Flight Path 12 at Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) in Los Alamos, New Mexico. We sought to probe a possible spin-dependent effective potential generated by unpolarized slabs of material arranged in a way to create a density gradient transverse to the direction of the neutron beam. By passing a beam of polarized neutrons near such an arrangement, the plane of polarization of the neutrons could rotate in proportion to the strength of a possible exotic interaction. We have improved the upper bounds on such an interaction by at least two orders of magnitude for force ranges in the mm-micron scale.
- Publication:
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Ph.D. Thesis
- Pub Date:
- 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016PhDT.......180H
- Keywords:
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- Physics;Nuclear physics and radiation