Experimental upper bound and theoretical expectations for parity-violating neutron spin rotation in
Abstract
Neutron spin rotation is expected from quark-quark weak interactions in the standard model, which induce weak interactions among nucleons that violate parity. We present the results from an experiment searching for the effect of parity violation via the spin rotation of polarized neutrons in a liquid 4 He medium. The value for the neutron spin rotation angle per unit length in 4He, dφ/dz = [+2.1 ± 8.3 (stat.) +2.9 – 0.2(sys.)] × 10–7 rad/m, is consistent with zero. The result agrees with the best current theoretical estimates of the size of nucleon-nucleon weak amplitudes from other experiments and with the expectations from recent theoretical approaches to weak nucleon-nucleon interactions. In this paper we review the theoretical status of parity violation in the n→ + 4He system and discuss details of the data analysis leading to the quoted result. Analysis tools are presented that quantify systematic uncertainties in this measurement and that are expected to be essential for future measurements.
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- George Washington Univ., Washington, DC (United States); Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States); Georgia State Univ., Atlanta, GA (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1542694
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1610292
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AI02-93ER40784; FG02-95ER40901; SC0010443; FG02-97ER41020 MOD 0053; FG02-97ER41020
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Physical Review C
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Physical Review C Journal Volume: 100 Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2469-9985
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS; physics; few-body systems; neutron physics; nuclear tests of fundamental interactions; QCD in nuclear reactions; A ≤ 5; parity
Citation Formats
Swanson, H. E., Heckel, B. R., Bass, C. D., Bass, T. D., Dawkins, J. M., Horton, J. C., Luo, D., Snow, W. M., Walbridge, S. B., Crawford, B. E., Gan, K., Micherdzinska, A. M., Huffer, C., Markoff, D. M., Mumm, H. P., Nico, J. S., Sarsour, M., Sharapov, E. I., and Zhumabekova, V. Experimental upper bound and theoretical expectations for parity-violating neutron spin rotation in He 4. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.100.015204.
Swanson, H. E., Heckel, B. R., Bass, C. D., Bass, T. D., Dawkins, J. M., Horton, J. C., Luo, D., Snow, W. M., Walbridge, S. B., Crawford, B. E., Gan, K., Micherdzinska, A. M., Huffer, C., Markoff, D. M., Mumm, H. P., Nico, J. S., Sarsour, M., Sharapov, E. I., & Zhumabekova, V. Experimental upper bound and theoretical expectations for parity-violating neutron spin rotation in He 4. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.100.015204
Swanson, H. E., Heckel, B. R., Bass, C. D., Bass, T. D., Dawkins, J. M., Horton, J. C., Luo, D., Snow, W. M., Walbridge, S. B., Crawford, B. E., Gan, K., Micherdzinska, A. M., Huffer, C., Markoff, D. M., Mumm, H. P., Nico, J. S., Sarsour, M., Sharapov, E. I., and Zhumabekova, V. Tue .
"Experimental upper bound and theoretical expectations for parity-violating neutron spin rotation in He 4". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.100.015204.
@article{osti_1542694,
title = {Experimental upper bound and theoretical expectations for parity-violating neutron spin rotation in He 4},
author = {Swanson, H. E. and Heckel, B. R. and Bass, C. D. and Bass, T. D. and Dawkins, J. M. and Horton, J. C. and Luo, D. and Snow, W. M. and Walbridge, S. B. and Crawford, B. E. and Gan, K. and Micherdzinska, A. M. and Huffer, C. and Markoff, D. M. and Mumm, H. P. and Nico, J. S. and Sarsour, M. and Sharapov, E. I. and Zhumabekova, V.},
abstractNote = {Neutron spin rotation is expected from quark-quark weak interactions in the standard model, which induce weak interactions among nucleons that violate parity. We present the results from an experiment searching for the effect of parity violation via the spin rotation of polarized neutrons in a liquid 4 He medium. The value for the neutron spin rotation angle per unit length in 4He, dφ/dz = [+2.1 ± 8.3 (stat.) +2.9 – 0.2(sys.)] × 10–7 rad/m, is consistent with zero. The result agrees with the best current theoretical estimates of the size of nucleon-nucleon weak amplitudes from other experiments and with the expectations from recent theoretical approaches to weak nucleon-nucleon interactions. In this paper we review the theoretical status of parity violation in the n→ + 4He system and discuss details of the data analysis leading to the quoted result. Analysis tools are presented that quantify systematic uncertainties in this measurement and that are expected to be essential for future measurements.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevC.100.015204},
journal = {Physical Review C},
number = 1,
volume = 100,
place = {United States},
year = {2019},
month = {7}
}
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.100.015204
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:

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