Neutron diffraction test on spin-dependent short range interaction

The direct constraint on the parameters of short range pseudomagnetic interaction of free neutron with matter is obtained from the recent test experiment on a search for neutron EDM by crystal-diffraction method [1]. It is shown that this constraint on a product of scalar to pseudo-scalar coupling constants g _S g _P is better than that of any other method for the range λ < 10⁻⁵ cm.     

New measurements of the neutron electric dipole moment

We report a new measurement of the neutron electric dipole moment with the PNPI EDM spectrometer using the ultracold neutron source PF2 at the research reactor of the ILL. Its first results can be interpreted as a limit on the neutron electric dipole moment of |d _n | < 5.5 × 10^?26 e cm (90% confidence level).     

PNPI differential EDM spectrometer and latest results of measurements of the neutron electric dipole moment

In this work, the double chamber magnetic resonance spectrometer of the Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (PNPI) designed to measure the neutron electric dipole moment (EDM) is briefly described. A method for long storage of polarized ultracold neutrons in a resonance space with a superposed electric field collinear to the leading magnetic field is used. The results of the measurements carried out on the ILL reactor (Grenoble, France) are interpreted as the upper limit of the value of neutron EDM |d_n| < 5.5 × 10^–26 e cm at the 90% confidence level.     

Search for the neutron EDM by crystal-diffraction method. Test experiment and future progress

Possible future progress of the crystal-diffraction neutron electric dipole moment search experiment is discussed. A storage modification of the experiment is proposed. It is demonstrated that sensitivity of the method can be a few 10⁻²⁷ e cm for the BSO crystal with the size 10×10×10 cm³ and expected luminosity of European Spallation Source (ESS).     

The electric dipole moment of the neutron in the Kobayashi-Maskawa model

A possible mechanism for producing a neutron electric dipole moment to order G_F² in the Kobayashi-Maskawa model is proposed; the consequent order of magnitude of the dipole moment would be 10^?30 cm in units of the electric charge.     

Nuclear electric dipole moment of He

A permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of a physical system requires time-reversal (T) and parity (P) violation. Experimental programs are currently pushing the limits on EDMs in atoms, nuclei, and the neutron to regimes of fundamental theoretical interest. Here we calculate the magnitude of the P-, T-violating EDM of ³He and the expected sensitivity of such a measurement to the underlying P-, T-violating interactions. Assuming that the coupling constants are of comparable magnitude for π-, ρ-, and ω-exchanges, we find that the pion-exchange contribution dominates. Our results suggest that a measurement of the ³He EDM is complementary to the planned neutron and deuteron experiments, and could provide a powerful constraint for the theoretical models of the pion–nucleon P-, T-violating interaction.     

A model for a large electric dipole moment of the neutron

It is shown that a mixing of ordinary quarks and mirror quarks could induce a large electric dipole moment, d_n, for the neutron. For an about 1% mixing the prediction is |d_n| ≅ 10⁻²⁵ e cm. Recent results of two experimental groups, one at the Leningrad Nuclear Physics Institute and the other at the Institute Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, indicate that the dipole moment may have such a high value.     

The neutron electric dipole moment in the standard KM model

We compute the electric dipole moment of the neutron in the standard KM model, including the meson-baryon intermediate states which dominate the result in the SU(3) × SU(3) chiral limit, and find 1.4×10⁻³¹ e cm⩾|D_n|⩾9.9×10⁻³³ e cm.     

Present status of the 129Xe comagnetometer development for neutron EDM measurement

A ¹²⁹Xe comagnetometer designed for the measurement of neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) as precisely as 1 × 10^?27e cm is presented. Highly nuclear spin polarized ¹²⁹Xe are introduced into an EDM cell where the ¹²⁹Xe spin precession is detected by means of the two-photon transition. The geometric phase effect (GPE) which generates the false nEDM was quantitatively discussed and the systematic error of nEDM from the GPE was estimated considering the buffer-gas suppression due to Xe atomic collisions. Research and development are in progress to construct the ¹²⁹Xe comagnetometer with a field sensitivity of 0.3 fT. At present, about 70 % nuclear spin polarized ¹²⁹Xe atoms have been obtained in a spin exchange opitial pumping cell, that are in the process of being transferred into the EDM cell via a cold trap.     

Depolarization of a neutron beam in Laue diffraction by a noncentrosymmetric crystal

The depolarization of a neutron beam executing Laue diffraction in a thick (～3.5 cm) noncentrosymmetric α-quartz crystal is observed. This effect was predicted by us earlier and suggested for measuring the electric dipole moment (EDM) of a neutron. The effect is due to an interaction of the magnetic moment of a moving neutron with a strong crystal electric field, as a result of which the neutron spin rotates in opposite directions for waves of two types excited in the crystal. The effect is studied for neutron diffraction by a system of crystallographic (110) planes at Bragg angles close to π/2, up to 87°. It is shown that, for a crystal of thickness L=3.5 cm, a direct beam initially polarized along the reciprocal lattice vector becomes depolarized upon diffraction, irrespective of the value of Bragg angle, whereas the beam polarized perpendicular to the diffraction plane retains its polarization. The Eτ value determining the sensitivity of the method to EDM is experimentally estimated.     

Towards a new measurement of the neutron electric dipole moment

Precision measurements of particle electric dipole moments (EDMs) provide extremely sensitive means to search for non-standard mechanisms of T (or CP) violation. For the neutron EDM, the upper limit has been reduced by eight orders of magnitude in 50 years thereby excluding several CP violation scenarios. We report here on a new effort aiming at improving the neutron EDM limit by two orders of magnitude, down to a level of 3 × 10⁻²⁸ e·cm. The two central elements of the approach are the use of the higher densities which will be available at the new dedicated spallation UCN source at the Paul Scherrer Institute, and the optimization of the in-vacuum Ramsey resonance technique, with storage chambers at room temperature, to reach new limits of sensitivity.     

The neutron electric dipole moment as a test of the superweak interaction theory

Theoretical calculations of the neutron electric dipole moment D_n are reviewed for various theories of CP violation. It is shown that for the superweak interaction theory D_n is less than 10^?29e · cm in contrast to values of 10^?23 to 10^?24 predicted by many but not all milliweak theories. It is concluded that prospective measurements of D_n may provide decisive evidence against or significant evidence in favour of the superweak theory.     

A limit on scalar-pseudoscalar weak neutral currents from a new interpretation of atomic electric dipole measurements

We show that the existing measurements of electric dipole moment of heavy atoms exclude a weak electron-nucleon interaction involving the product of a pseudoscalar and a scalar neutral current with a coupling constant larger than 10^?3G_F.     

Space‒time inhomogeneity of the electron flow in pyroelectric X-ray sources

The operating conditions of X-Ray sources based on LiNbO₃ crystals are investigated during heating-cooling cycles. It is demonstrated that the radiation intensity is unstable. The radiation is accompanied by electrical breakdowns in the Z plane of the crystals and emission of photon packets not described by the Poisson distribution. Visualization of the electron beam through the grid electrode by a luminescent screen showed that the electron beam is not uniform in the Z-plane of the crystal and greatly changes with temperature. It is found that, under definite conditions, the numerous redistributions of the intense emission zones occurred between different areas at Z-surface of the crystal. Possible reasons for the observed effects are examined. The obtained data are important for creating pyroelectric X-ray and neutron sources presuming the usage of strong electric fields whose strength reaches 10⁵ V/cm.     

Electric dipole moment of Dirac fermionic dark matter

The direct limit of electric dipole moment and direct searches for dark matter by electric dipole interaction are investigated with including the electromagnetic nuclear form factor, in case that the dark matter candidate is a Dirac particle. The electric dipole moment of dark matter constrained by direct searches must be lower than 7×¹⁰−22e cm for dark matter mass of 100 GeV to satisfy the current experimental exclusion limits at XENON10 and CDMS II. The CP violation of electric dipole moment and the dark matter discovery by electric dipole interaction in the future are considered.     

Search for electric dipole moments of light ions in storage rings

The Standard Model (SM) of Particle Physics is not capable to account for the apparent matterantimatter asymmetry of our Universe. Physics beyond the SM is required and is searched for by (i) employing highest energies (e.g., at LHC), and (ii) striving for ultimate precision and sensitivity (e.g., in the search for electric dipole moments (EDMs)). Permanent EDMs of particles violate both time reversal (T) and parity (P) invariance, and are via the CPT-theorem also CP-violating. Finding an EDM would be a strong indication for physics beyond the SM, and pushing upper limits further provides crucial tests for any corresponding theoretical model, e.g., SUSY. Direct searches of proton and deuteron EDMs bear the potential to reach sensitivities beyond 10^?29 e cm. For an all-electric proton storage ring, this goal is pursued by the US-based srEDM collaboration [2], while the newly found Julich-based JEDI collaboration [1] is pursuing an approach using a combined electric-magnetic lattice which shall provide access to the EDMs of protons, deuterons, and ³He ions in the same machine. In addition, JEDI has recently proposed to perform a direct measurement of the proton and/or deuteron EDM at COSY using resonant techniques involving Wien filters.     

CP violation in gauge theories and the electric dipole moment of the neutron

A nonvanishing contribution to the neutron electric dipole moment in CP-violating gauge theories of the weak interactions, arising from interaction of the photon with two-quark subsystems of the three-bound-quark neutron system, is calculated. In the Kobayashi-Maskawa model the resulting value of the moment is estimated as O(10^?32) e cm; however, strong interaction corrections (gluonic radiative corrections) give quark moment contributions which may be numerically larger (possibly 10^?30±1 e cm). Either case clearly distinguishes gauge-sector CP violation from Higgs-sector CP violation which typically gives a neutron moment of order 10^?24 e cm.     

A new measurement of the51V spin dependent scattering length

The method of pseudomagnetic slow neutron precession has been used to obtain the spin-dependent (incoherent) scattering length of⁵¹V with a better precision than obtained before by other methods. The result,b ⁺ ?b ^?=12.81±0.08 fm, is consistent with the earlier values.