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Improved Neutron Lifetime Measurement with UCNτ.
- Source :
-
Physical review letters [Phys Rev Lett] 2021 Oct 15; Vol. 127 (16), pp. 162501. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- We report an improved measurement of the free neutron lifetime τ_{n} using the UCNτ apparatus at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. We count a total of approximately 38×10^{6} surviving ultracold neutrons (UCNs) after storing in UCNτ's magnetogravitational trap over two data acquisition campaigns in 2017 and 2018. We extract τ_{n} from three blinded, independent analyses by both pairing long and short storage time runs to find a set of replicate τ_{n} measurements and by performing a global likelihood fit to all data while self-consistently incorporating the β-decay lifetime. Both techniques achieve consistent results and find a value τ_{n}=877.75±0.28_{stat}+0.22/-0.16_{syst} s. With this sensitivity, neutron lifetime experiments now directly address the impact of recent refinements in our understanding of the standard model for neutron decay.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1079-7114
- Volume :
- 127
- Issue :
- 16
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Physical review letters
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 34723594
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.162501