Search for a neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) at Los Alamos National Laboratory

An experiment to search for the permanent electric dipole moment of the neutron is being developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). This experiment is based on Ramsey’s separated oscillatory field method at room temperature and features the double cell geometry, a 199Hg comagnetometer, a 199Hg external magnetometer, and a series of optically pumped magnetometers. It takes advantage of high density ultracold neutrons (UCN) available from the LANL UCN source. We expect to achieve a 1-sigma statistical uncertainty of 2x10^-27 e-cm after 5 calendar years of running. In this talk, an overview of the experiment as well as the status of the commissioning will be presented.