Search

The TRIUMF Ultra-Cold Advanced Neutron (TUCAN) collaboration aims at a precision neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) measurement with an uncertainty of $10^{-27}\,e\cdot\mathrm{cm}$, which is an order-of-magnitude better than the current nEDM upper limit and enables us to test Supersymmetry. To achieve this precision, we are developing a new high-intensity ultracold neutron (UCN) source using super-thermal UCN production in superfluid helium (He-II) and a nEDM spectrometer. The current development status of them is reported in this article., Comment: Proceedings of the 24th International Spin Symposium (SPIN 2021), 18-22 October 2021, Matsue, Japan

Structure factors describe how incident radiation is scattered from materials such as silicon and germanium and characterize the physical interaction between the material and scattered particles. We use neutron pendell\"{o}sung interferometry to make precision measurements of the (220) and (400) neutron-silicon structure factors, and achieve a factor of four improvement in the (111) structure factor uncertainty. These data provide measurements of the silicon Debye-Waller factor at room temperature and the mean square neutron charge radius $\langle r_n^2 \rangle = -0.1101 \pm 0.0089 \, \mathrm{fm}^2$. Combined with existing measurements of the Debye-Waller factor and charge radius, the measured structure factors also improve constraints on the strength of a Yukawa-modification to gravity by an order of magnitude over the 20 pm to 10 nm length scale range.

The TUCAN (TRIUMF Ultra-Cold Advanced Neutron) collaboration aims to search for the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) with unprecedented precision. One of the essential elements for the nEDM measurement is a polarization analyzer of ultracold neutrons (UCNs), whose main component is a magnetized thin iron film. Several thin iron films were deposited on aluminum and silicon ubstrates and were characterized by vibrating sample magnetometry and cold-neutron reflectometry. A magnetic field required to saturate the iron film is $\sim$12 kA/m for those on the aluminum substrates and 6.4 kA/m for the silicon substrates. The magnetic potential of the iron films on the Si substrate was estimated to be 2 T by the neutron reflectometry, which is sufficient performance for an UCN polarization analyzer of the nEDM measurement., Proceedings of the 24th International Spin Symposium (SPIN 2021), 18-22 October 2021, Matsue, Japan

Neutron imaging is a nondestructive inspection technique that has a wide range of applications. One of the important aspects of neutron imaging is achieving a micrometer-scale spatial resolution. The development of a high-resolution neutron detector is a challenging task. As one potential solution to this task, we investigate whether neutron detectors based on fine-grained nuclear emulsions are suitable for high-resolution neutron imaging applications. High track density is necessary to improve the quality of neutron imaging. However, the available track analysis methods are difficult to apply under high track density conditions. Simulated images are used to determine the required track density for neutron imaging. A track density of the order of [Formula: see text] tracks per [Formula: see text] is sufficient to utilize neutron detectors for imaging applications. Contrast resolution was also investigated for image datasets with various track densities and neutron transmission rates. Moreover, experiments were performed for the neutron imaging of gadolinium-based gratings with known geometries. The grating structures were successfully resolved. The calculated [Formula: see text] 10%–90% edge response using the grayscale optical images of the grating slit with a periodic structure of 9 [Formula: see text]m was [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]m.

A neutron decays into a proton, an electron, and an anti-neutrino through the beta-decay process. The decay lifetime ($\sim$880 s) is an important parameter in the weak interaction. For example, the neutron lifetime is a parameter used to determine the |$V_{\rm ud}$| parameter of the CKM quark mixing matrix. The lifetime is also one of the input parameters for the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, which predicts light element synthesis in the early universe. However, experimental measurements of the neutron lifetime today are significantly different (8.4 s or 4.0$\sigma$) depending on the methods. One is a bottle method measuring surviving neutron in the neutron storage bottle. The other is a beam method measuring neutron beam flux and neutron decay rate in the detector. There is a discussion that the discrepancy comes from unconsidered systematic error or undetectable decay mode, such as dark decay. A new type of beam experiment is performed at the BL05 MLF J-PARC. This experiment measured neutron flux and decay rate simultaneously with a time projection chamber using a pulsed neutron beam. We will present the world situation of neutron lifetime and the latest results at J-PARC., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, Proceedings of J-PARC Symposium 2019

A neutron detector using a fine-grained nuclear emulsion has a sub-micron spatial resolution and thus has potential to be applied as high-resolution neutron imaging. In this paper, we present two approaches to applying the emulsion detectors for neutron imaging. One is using a track analysis to derive the reaction points for high resolution. From an image obtained with a 9 &mu, m pitch Gd grating with cold neutrons, periodic peak with a standard deviation of 1.3 &mu, m was observed. The other is an approach without a track analysis for high-density irradiation. An internal structure of a crystal oscillator chip, with a scale of approximately 30 &mu, m, was able to be observed after an image analysis.

The violation of baryon number, B , is an essential ingredient for the preferential creation of matter over antimatter needed to account for the observed baryon asymmetry in the Universe. However, such a process has yet to be experimentally observed. The HIBEAM/NNBAR program is a proposed two-stage experiment at the European Spallation Source to search for baryon number violation. The program will include high-sensitivity searches for processes that violate baryon number by one or two units: free neutron–antineutron oscillation ( n → n ̄ ) via mixing, neutron–antineutron oscillation via regeneration from a sterile neutron state ( n → [ n ′ , n ̄ ′ ] → n ̄ ), and neutron disappearance (n → n′); the effective Δ B = 0 process of neutron regeneration ( n → [ n ′ , n ̄ ′ ] → n ) is also possible. The program can be used to discover and characterize mixing in the neutron, antineutron and sterile neutron sectors. The experiment addresses topical open questions such as the origins of baryogenesis and the nature of dark matter, and is sensitive to scales of new physics substantially in excess of those available at colliders. A goal of the program is to open a discovery window to neutron conversion probabilities (sensitivities) by up to three orders of magnitude compared with previous searches. The opportunity to make such a leap in sensitivity tests should not be squandered. The experiment pulls together a diverse international team of physicists from the particle (collider and low energy) and nuclear physics communities, while also including specialists in neutronics and magnetics.

The neutron lifetime has been measured by comparing the decay rate with the reaction rate of $^3$He nuclei of a pulsed neutron beam from the spallation neutron source at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). The decay rate and the reaction rate were determined by simultaneously detecting electrons from the neutron decay and protons from the $^3$He(n,p)$^3$H reaction using a gas chamber of which working gas contains diluted $^3$He. The measured neutron lifetime was $898\,\pm\,10\,_{\rm stat}\,^{+15}_{-18}\,_{\rm sys}\,$s., 28 pages, 20 figures, will be submitted to PTEP

A neutron lifetime measurement conducted at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) is counting the number of electrons from neutron decays with a time projection chamber (TPC). The $\gamma$ rays produced in the TPC cause irreducible background events. To achieve the precise measurement, the inner walls of the TPC consist of $^6$Li-enriched lithium-fluoride ($^6$LiF) tiles to suppress the amount of $\gamma$ rays. In order to estimate the amount of $\gamma$ rays from the $^{6}{\rm LiF}$ tile, prompt gamma ray analysis (PGA) measurements were performed using germanium detectors. We reconstructed the measured $\gamma$-ray energy spectrum using a Monte Carlo simulation with the stripping method. Comparing the measured spectrum with a simulated one, the number of $\gamma$ rays emitted from the$^{6}{\rm LiF}$ tile was $(2.3^{+0.7}_{-0.3}) \times 10^{-4}$ per incident neutron. This is $1.4^{+0.5}_{-0.2}$ times the value assumed for a mole fraction of the $^{6}{\rm LiF}$ tile. We concluded that the amount of $\gamma$ rays produced from the $^{6}{\rm LiF}$ tile is not more twice the originally assumed value., Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, will be submitted to JINST

A new type of cold/ultracold neutron detector that can realize a spatial resolution of less than 100 nm was developed using nuclear emulsion. The detector consists of a fine-grained nuclear emulsion coating and a 50-nm thick 10B4C layer for the neutron conversion. The detector was exposed to cold and ultracold neutrons (UCNs) at the J-PARC. Detection efficiencies were measured as (0.163 ± 0.015 (stat) ± 0.013 (sys))% and (10.3 ± 1.3 (stat) ± 1.1 (sys))% for cold and ultracold neutrons consistently with the 10 B content in the converter. Positions of individual neutrons can be determined by observing secondary particle tracks recorded in the nuclear emulsion. The spatial resolution of incident neutrons were found to be in the range of 11–99 nm in the angle region of tan θ≤1.9 , where θ is the angle between a recorded track and the normal direction of the converter layer. The achieved spatial resolution corresponds to the improvement of one or two orders of magnitude compared with conventional techniques and it is comparable with the wavelength of UCNs., 素粒子用写真技術を応用した超高分解能新型中性子検出器の開発に成功 --中性子の波紋を撮ってこの世の成り立ちに迫る--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2018-11-21.

Pendellösung interferometry is one of the technique for accurate determination of the structure factors of crystals. Observation method of Pendellösung fringes by using pulsed cold neutrons and the time-of-flight analysis were established. We measured the nuclear scattering length of silicon by the Pendellösung fringes with pulsed neutrons as (4.125±0.003(stat:)±0:028(syst:)). This indicates the applicability of Pendellösung interferometry at high-intensity pulsed neutron facilities for various precision measurements., ファイル公開：2020-11-11, Corrigendum to “Pendellösung interferometry by using pulsed neutrons” [Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 908 (2018) 78–81]: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.10.218 (http://hdl.handle.net/2237/29267)

The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation time ($T_1$) of lanthanum and aluminum nuclei in a single crystal of lanthanum aluminate doped with neodymium ions is studied to estimate the feasibility of the dynamically polarized lanthanum target applicable to beam experiments. The application of our interest is the study of fundamental discrete symmetries in the spin optics of epithermal neutrons. This study requires a highly flexible choice of the applied magnetic field for neutron spin control and favors longer $T_1$ under lower magnetic field and at higher temperature. The $T_1$ of $^{139}{\rm La}$ and ${}^{27}{\rm Al}$ was measured under magnetic fields of $0.5$-$2.5$ T and at temperatures of $0.1$-$1.5$ K and found widely distributed up to 100 h. The result suggests that the $T_1$ can be as long as $T_1 \sim$ 1 h at $0.1$ K with a magnetic field of $0.1$ T, which partially fulfills the requirement of the neutron beam experiment. Possible improvements to achieve a longer $T_1$ are discussed., Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures

A neutron guide system for neutron resonance spin echo spectrometers has been constructed at BL06 of the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex, Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility....

Precision measurements of slow neutron cross sections with atoms have several scientific applications. In particular, the $n\text{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}\mathrm{He}$ $s$-wave scattering length is important to know both for helping to constrain the nuclear three-body interaction and for the proper interpretation of several ongoing slow neutron experiments searching for other types of neutron-atom interactions. We present new measurements of the ratios of the neutron differential scattering cross sections of the noble gases He, Ar, Kr, and Xe to Ne. All gases used were of natural isotopic abundance. These measurements were performed using a recently developed neutron-scattering apparatus for gas samples located on a pulsed slow neutron beamline which was designed to search for possible exotic neutron-atom interactions and employs both neutron time of flight information and a position-sensitive neutron detector for scattering event reconstruction. We found agreement with the literature values of scattering cross sections inferred from Ar/Ne, Kr/Ne, and Xe/Ne differential cross-section ratios over the $q$ range of 1--7 ${\mathrm{nm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. However, for the case of He/Ne we find that the cross section inferred differs by 11.3% ($7.6\ensuremath{\sigma}$) from previously reported values inferred from neutron phase-shift measurements, but is in reasonable agreement with values from other measurements. The very large discrepancy in the He/Ne ratio calls for a new precision measurement of the $n\text{\ensuremath{-}}^{4}\mathrm{He}$ scattering length using neutron interferometry.

Large sources of parity violation have been observed in compound nuclear reactions. These enhancements are described by the compound nuclear model, which can be used to describe the angular correlation of $\gamma$-rays produced in $(\rm{n},\gamma)$ reactions in medium-heavy nuclei. It has also been suggested that these same reactions could lead to a similar enhancement in time reversal violating processes. Therefore, we are interested in verifying the compound nuclear model by studying the $(\rm{n},\gamma)$ reaction using polarized neutrons. In this paper, we discuss the installation and characterization of a neutron polarizer used in the $(\rm{n},\gamma)$ measurement with transversely polarized neutrons.

The neutron is suitable for precision measurements to search for new physics. Extremely-high intense pulsed neutron provided by J-PARC enable us to perform new type of precision measurements. We are performing various experiments with low energy neutrons at J-PARC. In this paper, we describe our experimental search for time reversal symmetry violation in nuclear reactions. The enhancement of the T-violation is predicted in the neutron capture reaction for some nuclei. Our recent results of 139La(n, gamma) reaction suggested that the enhancement is large enough to search T-violation with high sensitivity, which can be reach to that of neutron EDM and which has different systematics. In J-PARC, we are also performing the precision measurement of neutron lifetime and medium-range unknown force search by using pulsed neutrons. We are continuing researches and developments, for example, search for neutron electric dipole moment by using neutron diffraction with non-centrosymmetric crystal and a chameleon field search with neutron interferometer.

We developed a neutron detector with submicron spatial resolution by incorporating 6 Li into a fine-grained nuclear emulsion. Upon exposure to thermal neutrons, tracks from neutron capture events were observed. The detector spatial resolution was estimated from their grain density. Detection efficiency was measured using the detector response to cold neutrons.

This paper summarizes the relevant theoretical developments, outlines some ideas to improve experimental searches for free neutron-antineutron oscillations, and suggests avenues for future improvement in the experimental sensitivity., Comment: Submitted to Physics Reports

We performed a polarized neutron transmission asymmetry measurement utilizing the 139La(n,γ)140La reaction. This measurement involved the use of a recently developed 3He spin filter mounted on the J-PARC MLF beam line number 4 (BL04). The resulting value of the longitudinal asymmetry AL = (11.7 ± 1.1)% was found to be in good agreement with existing values in the literature suggesting that the method by which we polarize the neutron beam is not a significant source of uncertainty. This preliminary work represents a first step toward future measurements of the angular correlation in (n̅,Υ) reactions necessary in the search for enhanced T-Violation in compound nuclei.

Parity violating effects enhanced by up to 106 times compared to proton-proton scattering have been observed in several neutron capture induced compound nuclei. This enhancement is explained as an interference between an s-wave and a p-wave amplitude (s-p mixing). Theory predicts that this mechanism can also enhance T-violating effects. For estimation of this enhancement in a promising candidate nucleus, we measured the angular distribution of γ-rays in the (n,γ) reaction induced in a 139La target. Experiments were performed at J-PARC, using a germanium detector array at an intense neutron beam. Analysis of the observed angular dependence around the 0.74 eV p-wave resonance allowed us to determine the ratio of the partial p-wave neutron width to the total neutron width in the entrance channel of the compound nucleus. We also report our development of a 3He spin filter needed as an epithermal-neutron polarizer for the T-violation search.

It is known that parity violation can be enhanced in compound nuclei due to mixing of s- and p-waves, and it is suggested that time reversal invariance (T) violation is enhanced by the same mechanism. We are planing a T-violation search using compound nuclei produced in neutron capture reactions. Although 81Br is one of the candidate target nuclei, its sensitivity to T-violation has not yet been determined. For an estimate of the latter, a measurement of the angular distribution of γ-rays emitted in the 81Br(n,γ) reaction was carried out in November 2017, of which we report first results.

We developed and improved an ultracold neutron (UCN) rebuncher, a UCN accelerator that can control the longitudinal velocity of UCNs by a combination of an adiabatic fast passage spin-flip and a gradient magnetic field and focus UCNs on a point. We have proposed the construction of a new spallation neutron source, production of highly dense and low repetition rate pulsed UCN beams, and neutron electric dipole moment (EDM) measurements with UCNs at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). The purpose of the rebuncher is to recover the spatial density of the pulsed UCNs, which diffuse during transport in the experiment, by focusing them at the storage bottle. Although the present rebuncher is still a prototype, it is one of the most important tools in our neutron EDM experiment. The UCN focusing experiment with the improved rebuncher was carried out at Beamline 5 of the Materials and Life Science Experiment Facility (MLF) at J-PARC. We succeeded in decelerating 5.5 m/s pulsed UCNs produced by our neutron Doppler shifter and focusing them to achieve synchronization with 4.7 m/s UCNs. As a result, the corresponding count rate in the time-of-flight spectrum was increased by 2 times.

We installed a source for ultracold neutrons at a new, dedicated spallation target at TRIUMF. The source was originally developed in Japan and uses a superfluid-helium converter cooled to 0.9$\,$K. During an extensive test campaign in November 2017, we extracted up to 325000 ultracold neutrons after a one-minute irradiation of the target, over three times more than previously achieved with this source. The corresponding ultracold-neutron density in the whole production and guide volume is 5.3$\,$cm$^{-3}$. The storage lifetime of ultracold neutrons in the source was initially 37$\,$s and dropped to 24$\,$s during the eighteen days of operation. During continuous irradiation of the spallation target, we were able to detect a sustained ultracold-neutron rate of up to 1500$\,$s$^{-1}$. Simulations of UCN production, UCN transport, temperature-dependent UCN yield, and temperature-dependent storage lifetime show excellent agreement with the experimental data and confirm that the ultracold-neutron-upscattering rate in superfluid helium is proportional to $T^7$., 8 pages, 10 figures

A new time projection chamber (TPC) was developed for neutron lifetime measurement using a pulsed cold neutron spallation source at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). Managing considerable background events from natural sources and the beam radioactivity is a challenging aspect of this measurement. To overcome this problem, the developed TPC has unprecedented features such as the use of polyether-ether-ketone plates in the support structure and internal surfaces covered with $^6$Li-enriched tiles to absorb outlier neutrons. In this paper, the design and performance of the new TPC are reported in detail., 33 pages, 10 figures

We describe a film coating facility for the development of multilayer mirrors for use in neutron optical devices that handle slow neutron beams. Recently, we succeeded in fabricating a large neutron supermirror with high reflectivity using an ion beam sputtering system (KUR-IBS), as well as all neutron supermirrors in two neutron guide tubes at BL06 at J-PARC/MLF. We also realized a large flexible self-standing m =5 NiC/Ti supermirror and very small d -spacing ( d =1.65 nm) multilayer sheets. In this paper, we present an overview of the performance and utility of non-magnetic neutron multilayer mirrors fabricated with the KUR-IBS

"Neutron Optics and Physics (NOP/ BL05)" at MLF in J-PARC is a beamline for studies of fundamental physics. The beamline is divided into three branches so that different experiments can be performed in parallel. These beam branches are being used to develop a variety of new projects. We are developing an experimental project to measure the neutron lifetime with total uncertainty of 1 s (0.1%). The neutron lifetime is an important parameter in elementary particle and astrophysics. Thus far, the neutron lifetime has been measured by several groups; however, different values are obtained from different measurement methods. This experiment is using a method with different sources of systematic uncertainty than measurements conducted to date. We are also developing a source of pulsed ultra-cold neutrons (UCNs) produced from a Doppler shifter are available at the unpolarized beam branch. We are developing a time focusing device for UCNs, a so called "rebuncher", which can increase UCN density from a pulsed UCN source. At the low divergence beam branch, an experiment to search an unknown intermediate force with nanometer range is performed by measuring the angular dependence of neutron scattering by noble gases. Finally the beamline is also used for the research and development of optical elements and detectors. For example, a position sensitive neutron detector that uses emulsion to achieve sub-micrometer resolution is currently under development. We have succeeded in detecting cold and ultra-cold neutrons using the emulsion detector., 9 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of International Conference on Neutron Optics (NOP2017)

We have been developing neutron detectors with spatial resolution of submicron to several tens of nanometers using fine-grained nuclear emulsion with nuclides with large neutron absorption cross sections such as 6Li and 10B. Those detectors were demonstrated their ability to detect cold and ultra-cold neutrons.

Neutron is a chargeless massive particle with the lifetime in the macroscopic range, which is suitable for precision measurement of the small influence of new physics. We have started the experimental studies to search unknown interactions with slow neutrons. Combination of the pulsed neutrons provided by J-PARC and the advanced optical devices enables us to perform new types of high precision measurements. The unknown source of large CP violation should exist to explain the matter universe. One of the strongest constraint of the search for the large CP-violation is the result of neutron electric dipole moment. We are now discussing another approach to search neutron EDM by using dynamical diffraction of neutron wave with non-centrosymmetric crystals. The enhancement of the violation of time-reversal symmetry is predicted in the neutron capture reaction for some nuclei. We have also started the feasibility to search the T-violation with the neutron resonance capture reaction at J-PARC. Non-Newtonian effect of the gravity at the short range is lead by the existence of extra-dimension of the space. Neutron scattering with noble gas target enables us to measure the interaction at the range of the order of 1 nm. On the other hand, we are now planning the unknown force search lead by dark energy, like chameleon field, by using the interferometer.

The neutron lifetime is one of the basic parameters in the weak interaction, and is used for predicting the light element abundance in the early universe. Our group developed a new setup to measure the lifetime with the goal precision of 0.1% at the polarized beam branch BL05 of MLF, J-PARC. The commissioning data was acquired in 2014 and 2015, and the first set of data to evaluate the lifetime in 2016, which is expected to yield a statistical uncertainty of O(1)%. This paper presents the current analysis results and the future plans to achieve our goal precision., Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, the 26th International Nuclear Physics Conference

Neutrons can be accelerate and/or decelerate by using spin flip in the magnetic field. Controlling the number of spin-flips in the series of flippers enables us to change the energy of the acceleration/deceleration. The distribution of velocity of these neutrons can be concentrated by accelerating properly in the middle of the transport. The width of wavelength of the neutrons is compressed to improve the production of ultra-cold neutrons by superthermal method by using superfluid He-II. This has the advantage to improve the sensitivity of neutron EDM search.

The Nagoya University Accelerator driven Neutron Source (NUANS) is constructed at the main campus of the Nagoya University. The electrostatic accelerator is used with the maximum proton energy and intensity of 2.8MeV, 15mA(42kW) respectively. Two neutron beamlines are designed at NUANS. The BL1 is dedicated to BNCT development. The BL2 is designed for research and development for neutron devices and neutron imaging. The neutrons used for the BL2 are generated by using the (p, n) reaction from a thin beryllium target. We constructed a compact target station for the BL2 and measured the neutron transmission image.

We describe an experimental search for deviations from the inverse square law of gravity at the nanometer length scale using neutron scattering from noble gases on a pulsed slow neutron beamline. By measuring the neutron momentum transfer ($q$) dependence of the differential cross section for xenon and helium and comparing to their well-known analytical forms, we place an upper bound on the strength of a new interaction as a function of interaction length $\lambda$ which improves upon previous results in the region $\lambda < 0.1\,$nm, and remains competitive in the larger $\lambda$ region. A pseudoexperimental simulation developed for this experiment and its role in the data analysis described. We conclude with plans for improving sensitivity in the larger $\lambda$ region., Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures

By inserting two-dimensional (2D) elliptical focusing mirrors between each pair of RSFs in neutron resonance spin echo spectrometer, the flight path lengths between the pair of RSFs can be made equal even for any divergent beam. We investigate numerically the feasibility of using polygonal 2D elliptical focusing mirrors as beam correction devices, and we show the relation of the energy resolution and the neutron intensity including effect of gravity.

For the future fundamental physics experiments by using cold neutrons, we are developing a device which can measure the neutron polarization degree by accuracy significantly below 10 −3 . A quadrupole magnet is one of the promising candidate to measure the neutron polarization degree by such extremely high precision. We have performed a polarization experiment by using the quadrupole magnets at the Very Cold Neutron (VCN) port of the PF-2 in the Institute Laue-Langevin (ILL). As a result, we obtained the polarization degree P with very high accuracy P =0.9994±0.0001( stat. )±0.0003( syst. ), which meet our requirement significantly.

It is theoretically suggested that the violation of charge conjugation and parity symmetry (CP-violation) could be enhanced in several compound nuclear reactions. According to the CPT theorem the violation of time-reversal symmetry (T-violation) would be enhanced too. The experimental sensitivity to find a T-violating effect in neutron-induced compound nuclear reactions depends on the value of a spin factor κ(J), which is a parameter specific for each nuclide. It can be determined from the angular dependence of γ-ray emission in (n,γ) reactions induced near a p-wave resonance. In this paper, the measurement result and the analysis status of experiments using the target nucleus 117Sn are reported.

In this study, the germanium detector assembly, installed at the Accurate Neutron-Nuclear Reaction measurement Instruments (ANNRI) in the Material and Life Science Facility (MLF) operated by the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), has been characterized for extension to the measurement of the angular distribution of individual gamma-ray transitions from neutron-induced compound states. We have developed a Monte Carlo simulation code using the GEANT4 toolkit, which can reproduce the pulse-height spectra of gamma-rays from radioactive sources and (n,gamma) reactions. The simulation is applicable to the measurement of gamma-rays in the energy region of 0.5-11.0 MeV.

The velocity of neutrons from a pulsed neutron source is well-defined as a function of their arrival time. Electromagnetic neutron accelerator/decelerator synchronized with the neutron time-of-flight is capable of selectively changing the neutron velocity and concentrating the velocity distribution. Possible enhancement of the neutron intensity at a specific neutron velocity by orders of magnitude is discussed together with an experimental design., Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures

Currently, neutron resonance spin echo (NRSE) spectrometers are being applied to pulsed neutron sources at J-PARC. High-performance NRSE requires the development of a resonance neutron spin flipper (RSF) with high frequency. We have fabricated an RSF of pure aluminum having a frequency greater than 500 kHz and a wavelength from 0.30 to 0.75 nm.

Invariant mass spectra of low-mass vector mesons in the e+e- channel are measured in 12 GeV p + C and p + Cu reactions [Formula: see text] at the KEK Proton Synchrotron. Significant excess is observed at the low-mass side of ω meson peak over the known hadronic sources both in the C and Cu target data. Also below the ϕ meson peak, an excess is found in the Cu target data for slowly moving mesons whose βγ is less than 1.25. They can be interpreted as signatures of the spectral modification of vector mesons in cold nuclear matter.

We have measured e + e − invariant mass spectra in 12 GeV p + A interactions at the KEK Proton-Synchrotron. The aim of the experiment is to detect possible in-medium modification of vector mesons at normal nuclear density. We used carbon and copper targets to study the nuclear size dependence of the e + e − invariant mass spectra. A significant enhancement on the low-mass side of the ϕ meson peak was observed in the low βγ region ( β γ ϕ 1.25 ) in the copper data. On the other hand, in the higher βγ region ( β γ ϕ > 1.25 ), both the spectral shapes obtained from carbon and copper targets were consistent with the expected one from the simulation. This observation is consistent with a picture of the ϕ modification in a nucleus, i.e. normal nuclear density, because such an effect should be visible only for slowly moving mesons produced in a larger nucleus.

We measured invariant mass spectra of e+e− pairs produced in 12 GeV p + A interaction to investigate in-medium mass modification of vector mesons. We observed an enhancement over the known hadronic sources on the low-mass side of the ω meson mass peak. The obtained ρ/ω ratio indicates that this enhancement mainly results from ρ mesons whose mass was modified in nuclear matter. We performed a toy model calculation based on the prediction using the QCD sum rule. It reproduced well the tendency of our data.

A spectrometer was constructed to measure the invariant mass spectra of ρ, ω and φ mesons through their e+e− or K+K− decays. The KEK experiment E325 was successfully carried out using the new spectrometer, and observed the signature of an in-medium mass modification of the ρ and/or ω mesons for the first time. The details of the spectrometer are described.

We have developed new cold-neutron interferometer of Jamin-type. Clear interference fringes with the contrast of 60% were observed. This is the first success of neutron interferometer using four independent multilayer mirrors. By using this new interferometer, we have measured the transverse coherence length of cold neutron beam directly. The transverse dislocation between the two paths can be controlled with no dispersion. The measured coherence length was consistent with the estimate given by the transverse momentum distribution of incident beam.

In the neutron resonance spin echo (NRSE) spectrometer [1] the divergent beam provides the deviation of the flight length, which makes the phase difference between neutron spin states and also decreases the contrast of the spin echo signals. The flight length can be adjusted by using parabolic focusing mirrors [11], which can be fabricated with replica technique. Correction for beam divergence effect in the NRSE spectrometer using 2D-focusing supermirrors will be discussed.

High-density ultracold neutron (UCN) is commonly desired for the improvement of the experimental sensitivity to measure the electric dipole moment of neutrons. We discuss a method to suppress the decrease of the UCN density in transporting UCNs to the spatially separated storage volume by changing the UCN velocity synchronizing to the UCN time-of-flight.

We measured the invariant mass spectra of electron-positron pairs in the target rapidity region of 12-GeV p+A reactions. We have observed a significant difference in the mass spectra below the omega meson between p+C and p+Cu interactions. This difference indicates that the spectral shape of mesons is modified at normal nuclear-matter density.

We obtained highly polarized very cold neutrons through a quadrupole magnet with a large aperture. When neutrons go through a quadrupole magnet, parallel-spin neutrons are attracted to the magnet axis and anti-parallel-spin neutrons are repelled off the axis. Therefore, the neutrons through a sufficiently long quadrupole magnet have completely parallel-spin. At the downstream of the quadrupole magnet, we placed another quadrupole magnet to divide neutrons into two regions depending on their spin directions. We obtained the neutron polarization from the integrated count of the two regions and found it was 99.88±0.09 (stat.)±0.05 (syst.)%.

It is planned that three neutron resonance spin echo spectrometers will be installed in the No. 17 beam port of JSNS. In order to install these three spectrometers in one beam port, the neutron incident beam system to be installed in No. 17 port cannot only supply three polarized neutron beams to these spectrometers, but should also create very low background levels of neutron and gamma rays in the experimental area. We report based on shield evaluations how to realize the low background level by using two highly curved neutron guide tubes with high quality supermirrors.

A project for the development of neutron spin echo spectrometers using neutron resonance spin flippers with a pulsed neutron source has been launched. The system consists of a set of three different machines, a MIEZE spectrometer, a high intensity NRSE spectrometer and a high energy resolution Neutron resonance spin echo (NRSE) spectrometer. The design target of this system when installed in J-PARC is as follows: (1) MIEZE: 0.01

A new type of neutron resonance spin flipper (RSF) with high frequency oscillating magnetic field has been developed for Modulated IntEnsity by Zero Effort (MIEZE) spectrometer at cold neutron beam line MINE1 at JRR-3M reactor in JAEA. Dipole magnets enable us to provide the strong static fields for the RSFs. MIEZE signals have been demonstrated with the effective frequency of 600 kHz by using the new RSFs. The contrast of the signals was 0.58. The MIEZE spectrometer is under final process to practical use. The spectrometers can also be applied to the pulsed neutrons like J-PARC.