Sensitivity Reach of the Neutron EDM Experiment: The Electric Field Strength

Journal Article · Wed Aug 04 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3480197· OSTI ID:21410820

Hennings-Yeomans, R; Cooper, M; Currie, S A; Makela, M F; Ramsey, J C; Tajima, S; Womack, T L ^[1]; Long, J C ^[2]; Stanislaus, S ^[3]

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1. Physics Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos NM 87545 (United States)
2. Department of Physics, Indiana University, 727 E. Third St. Bloomington, IN 47405-7105 (United States)
3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN 46383 (United States)

The search for an electric dipole moment of the neutron tests physics beyond the Standard Model such as new sources of CP-violation and Supersymmetry. The nEDM experiment aims to improve the sensitivity on the current limit of the electric dipole moment of the neutron to <10{sup -27} e{center_dot}cm. The experiment will use a flux of Ultra Cold Neutrons (UCNs) produced and stored in a bath of superfluid He-II. A change in precession frequency is expected for a non-zero EDM when an electric field is applied parallel and antiparallel to a magnetic field across the neutron storage cell. A dominant parameter in terms of reducing the statistical uncertainty of this measurement is the strength of the applied electric field. An experiment to measure if superfluid He-II can sustain up to 50 kV/cm for a volume and electrode spacings comparable to the nEDM experiment has been constructed at Los Alamos National Laboratory. It consists in a large-area parallel plate capacitor immersed in a 200 liter central volume inside a suitable cryostat that in turn is connected to a dilution refrigerator unit. A description of test runs and the status of the experiment is presented.

• OSTI ID: 21410820
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1265, Issue 1; Conference: 8. Latin American symposium on nuclear physics and applications, Santiago (Chile), 15-19 Dec 2009; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3480197; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
CP INVARIANCE
CRYOSTATS
DILUTION
ELECTRIC DIPOLE MOMENTS
ELECTRIC FIELDS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PARITY
SENSITIVITY
STANDARD MODEL
SUPERFLUIDITY
SUPERSYMMETRY
ULTRACOLD NEUTRONS
BARYONS
COLD NEUTRONS
CONTROL EQUIPMENT
DIPOLE MOMENTS
ELECTRIC MOMENTS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EQUIPMENT
FERMIONS
FIELD THEORIES
GRAND UNIFIED THEORY
HADRONS
INVARIANCE PRINCIPLES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NEUTRONS
NUCLEONS
PARTICLE MODELS
PARTICLE PROPERTIES
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
SYMMETRY
THERMOSTATS
UNIFIED GAUGE MODELS