Update on the UCNProBe experiment
ORAL
Abstract
UCNProBe is an upcoming novel experiment at Los Alamos National Laboratory that will measure the lifetime of a free neutron, τn. There is currently a ~ 10 second (4.5 sigma) discrepancy in τn between the two main types of measurements. The first type uses a cold neutron beam and measures products of neutron betadecay. The second type uses ultracold neutrons (UCN) to store UCN in physical or magnetic vessels and measures the leftover neutrons at different storage times. The UCNProBe experiment will be a measurement of the first type, but it will take advantage of the UCN properties. UCN will be stored in a deuterated polystyrene box and the beta-decay electron rates will be measured in-situ. A boron coated YAP:Ce scintillator will be used for UCN counting. This talk will give an overview of the experiment and provide an update on its progress.
*This work was supported by the Los Alamos National Laboratory LDRD Program (Project No. 20190048 ER), National Science Foundation (Grant No. PHY1914133), and U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Physics (Grant No. DE-FG02-97ER41042, DE-FOA-0002821).
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Presenters
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Martin Krivos
- Los Alamos National Laboratory