학술논문

A search for neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations using the nEDM apparatus at PSI
Document Type
article
Source
Physics Letters B, Vol 812, Iss , Pp 135993- (2021)
Subject
Properties of neutrons
Ultracold neutrons
Nuclear matter
Mirror matter
Dark matter
Particle symmetries
Physics
QC1-999
Language
English
ISSN
0370-2693
Abstract
It has been proposed that there could be a mirror copy of the standard model particles, restoring the parity symmetry in the weak interaction on the global level. Oscillations between a neutral standard model particle, such as the neutron, and its mirror counterpart could potentially answer various standing issues in physics today. Astrophysical studies and terrestrial experiments led by ultracold neutron storage measurements have investigated neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations and imposed constraints on the theoretical parameters. Recently, further analysis of these ultracold neutron storage experiments has yielded statistically significant anomalous signals that may be interpreted as neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations, assuming nonzero mirror magnetic fields. The neutron electric dipole moment collaboration performed a dedicated search at the Paul Scherrer Institute and found no evidence of neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations. Thereby, the following new lower limits on the oscillation time were obtained: τnn′>352 s at B′=0 (95% C.L.), τnn′>6s for 0.4μT9s for 5.0μT