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Characterization of electromagnetic fields in the aSPECT spectrometer and reduction of systematic errors

Abstract

The aSPECT spectrometer has been designed to measure, with high precision, the recoil proton spectrum of the free neutron decay. From this spectrum, the electron antineutrino angular correlation coefficient a can be extracted with high accuracy. The goal of the experiment is to determine the coefficient a with a total relative error smaller than 0.3%, well below the current literature value of 5%. First measurements with the aSPECT spectrometer were performed in the Forschungs-Neutronenquelle Heinz Maier-Leibnitz in Munich. However, time-dependent background instabilities prevented us from reporting a new value of a. The contents of this thesis are based on the latest measurements performed with the aSPECT spectrometer at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble, France. In these measurements, background instabilities were considerably reduced. Furthermore, diverse modifications intended to minimize systematic errors and to achieve a more reliable setup were successfully performed. Unfortunately, saturation effects of the detector electronics turned out to be too high to determine a meaningful result. However, this and other systematics were identified and decreased, or even eliminated, for future aSPECT beamtimes. The central part of this work is focused on the analysis and improvement of systematic errors related to the aSPECT electromagnetic fields. This work yielded  More>>
Publication Date:
Oct 15, 2011
Product Type:
Thesis/Dissertation
Report Number:
INIS-DE-1285
Resource Relation:
Other Information: TH: Diss. (Dr.rer.nat.)
Subject:
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; ELECTRIC FIELDS; ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS; ELECTROSTATIC SPECTROMETERS; ERRORS; MAGNETIC FIELDS; MAGNETOMETERS; MINIMIZATION; NEUTRONS; NMR SPECTROMETERS; PROTON SPECTROMETERS; SEMILEPTONIC DECAY
OSTI ID:
21573574
Research Organizations:
Mainz Univ. (Germany). Fachbereich 08: Physik, Mathematik und Informatik
Country of Origin:
Germany
Language:
English
Other Identifying Numbers:
TRN: DE12F7984
Availability:
Commercial reproduction prohibited; INIS; OSTI as DE21573574
Submitting Site:
DEN
Size:
213 pages
Announcement Date:
Aug 09, 2012

Citation Formats

Ayala Guardia, Fidel. Characterization of electromagnetic fields in the aSPECT spectrometer and reduction of systematic errors. Germany: N. p., 2011. Web.
Ayala Guardia, Fidel. Characterization of electromagnetic fields in the aSPECT spectrometer and reduction of systematic errors. Germany.
Ayala Guardia, Fidel. 2011. "Characterization of electromagnetic fields in the aSPECT spectrometer and reduction of systematic errors." Germany.
@misc{etde_21573574,
title = {Characterization of electromagnetic fields in the aSPECT spectrometer and reduction of systematic errors}
author = {Ayala Guardia, Fidel}
abstractNote = {The aSPECT spectrometer has been designed to measure, with high precision, the recoil proton spectrum of the free neutron decay. From this spectrum, the electron antineutrino angular correlation coefficient a can be extracted with high accuracy. The goal of the experiment is to determine the coefficient a with a total relative error smaller than 0.3%, well below the current literature value of 5%. First measurements with the aSPECT spectrometer were performed in the Forschungs-Neutronenquelle Heinz Maier-Leibnitz in Munich. However, time-dependent background instabilities prevented us from reporting a new value of a. The contents of this thesis are based on the latest measurements performed with the aSPECT spectrometer at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble, France. In these measurements, background instabilities were considerably reduced. Furthermore, diverse modifications intended to minimize systematic errors and to achieve a more reliable setup were successfully performed. Unfortunately, saturation effects of the detector electronics turned out to be too high to determine a meaningful result. However, this and other systematics were identified and decreased, or even eliminated, for future aSPECT beamtimes. The central part of this work is focused on the analysis and improvement of systematic errors related to the aSPECT electromagnetic fields. This work yielded in many improvements, particularly in the reduction of the systematic effects due to electric fields. The systematics related to the aSPECT magnetic field were also minimized and determined down to a level which permits to improve the present literature value of a. Furthermore, a custom NMR-magnetometer was developed and improved during this thesis, which will lead to reduction of magnetic field-related uncertainties down to a negligible level to determine a with a total relative error of at least 0.3%.}
place = {Germany}
year = {2011}
month = {Oct}
}