Los Alamos nEDM Experiment and Demonstration of Ramsey’s Method on Stored UCNs at the LANL UCN Source

ORAL

Abstract

The Los Alamos National Laboratory ultracold neutron (UCN) source was recently upgraded for a factor of 5 improvement in stored density, providing the statistical precision needed for a room temperature neutron electric dipole moment measurement with sensitivity $\approx 3\times 10^{-27} e\cdot$cm, a factor 10 better than the limit set by the Sussex-RAL-ILL experiment. Here, we show results of a demonstration of Ramsey's separated oscillatory fields method on stored UCNs at the LANL UCN source and in a geometry relevant for a nEDM measurement. We argue a world-leading nEDM experiment could be performed at LANL with existing technology and a short lead time, providing a physics result with sensitivity intermediate between the current limit set by Sussex-RAL-ILL, and the anticipated limit from the complex, cryogenic nEDM experiment planned for the next decade at the ORNL Spallation Neutron Source (SNS-nEDM).

Authors

  • Steven Clayton

    Los Alamos Natl Lab

  • Tim Chupp

    University of Michigan

  • Christopher Cude-Woods

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, North Carolina State University

  • Scott Currie

    Los Alamos Natl Lab

  • Takeyasu Ito

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos Natl Lab

  • Chen-Yu Liu

    Indiana University

  • Joshua Long

    Indiana University

  • Stephen MacDonald

    Los Alamos Natl Lab

  • Mark Makela

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos Natl Lab

  • Christopher O'Shaughnessy

    Los Alamos Natl Lab

  • Brad Plaster

    University of Kentucky

  • John Ramsey

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos Natl Lab

  • Andy Saunders

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos Natl Lab