The search for the neutron electric dipole moment

A permanent electric dipole moment of the neutron violates time reversal as well as parity symmetry. Thus it also violates the combination of charge conjugation and parity symmetry if the combination of all three symmetries is a symmetry of nature. The violation of these symmetries could help to explain the observed baryon content of the Universe. The prediction of the Standard Model of particle physics for the neutron electric dipole moment is only about 10e−32 ecm. At the same time the combined violation of charge conjugation and parity symmetry in the Standard Model is insufficient to explain the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe. Several extensions to the Standard Model can explain the observed baryon asymmetry and also predict values for the neutron electric dipole moment just below the current best experimental limit of d n < 2.9e−26 ecm, (90% C.L.) that has been obtained by the Sussex-RAL-ILL collaboration in 2006. The very same experiment that set the current best limit on the electric dipole moment has been upgraded and moved to the Paul Scherrer Institute. Now an international collaboration is aiming at increasing the sensitivity for an electric dipole moment by more than an order of magnitude. This thesis took place in the frame of this experiment and went along with the commissioning of the experiment until first data taking. After a short layout of the theoretical background in chapter 1, the experiment with all subsystems and their performance are described in detail in chapter 2. To reach the goal sensitivity the control of systematic errors is as important as an increase in statistical sensitivity. Known systematic efects are described and evaluated in chapter 3. During about ten days in 2012, a first set of data was measured with the experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute. An analysis of this data is presented in chapter 4, together with general tools developed for future analysis eforts. The result for the upper limit of an electric dipole moment of the neutron is |dn| ≤ 6.4e−25 ecm (95%C.L.). Chapter 5 presents investigations for a next generation experiment, to build electrodes made partly from insulating material. Among other advantages, such electrodes would reduce magnetic noise, generated by the thermal movement of charge carriers. The last Chapter summarizes this work and gives an outlook.

New search for the Neutron Electric Dipole Moment using ultracold neutrons at the Spallation Neutron Source

This document introduces the planned new search for the neutron Electric Dipole Moment at the Spallation Neutron Source at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A spin precession measurement is to be carried out using Ultracold neutrons diluted in a superfluid Helium bath at T = 0.5 K, where spin polarized 3He atoms act as detector of the neutron spin polarization. This manuscript describes some of the key aspects of the planned experiment with the contributions from Caltech to the development of the project.

Techniques used in the design of magnet coils for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance were adapted to the geometry of the experiment. Described is an initial design approach using a pair of coils tuned to shield outer conductive elements from resistive heat loads, while inducing an oscillating field in the measurement volume. A small prototype was constructed to test the model of the field at room temperature.

A large scale test of the high voltage system was carried out in a collaborative effort at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The application and amplification of high voltage to polished steel electrodes immersed in a superfluid Helium bath was studied, as well as the electrical breakdown properties of the electrodes at low temperatures. A suite of Monte Carlo simulation software tools to model the interaction of neutrons, 3He atoms, and their spins with the experimental magnetic and electric fields was developed and implemented to further the study of expected systematic effects of the measurement, with particular focus on the false Electric Dipole Moment induced by a Geometric Phase akin to Berry’s phase.

An analysis framework was developed and implemented using unbinned likelihood to fit the time modulated signal expected from the measurement data. A collaborative Monte Carlo data set was used to test the analysis methods.

Electron and neutron electric dipole moment in the 3-3-1 model with heavy leptons

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Investigation of a superthermal ultracold neutron source based on a solid deuterium converter for the TRIGA Mainz reactor

Research in fundamental physics with the free neutron is one of the key tools for testing the Standard Model at low energies. Most prominent goals in this field are the search for a neutron electric dipole moment (EDM) and the measurement of the neutron lifetime. Significant improvements of the experimental performance using ultracold neutrons (UCN) require reduction of both systematic and statistical errors.rnThe development and construction of new UCN sources based on the superthermal concept is therefore an important step for the success of future fundamental physics with ultracold neutrons. rnSignificant enhancement of today available UCN densities strongly correlates with an efficient use of an UCN converter material. The UCN converter here is to be understood as a medium which reduces the velocity of cold neutrons (CN, velocity of about 600 m/s) to the velocity of UCN (velocity of about 6 m/s).rnSeveral big research centers around the world are presently planning or constructing new superthermal UCN sources, which are mainly based on the use of either solid deuterium or superfluid helium as UCN converter.rnThanks to the idea of Yu.Pokotilovsky, there exists the opportunity to build competitive UCN sources also at small research reactors of the TRIGA type. Of course these smaller facilities don't promise high UCN densities of several 1000 UCN/cm³, but they are able to provide densities around 100 UCN/cm³ for experiments.rnIn the context of this thesis, it was possible to demonstrate succesfully the feasibility of a superthermal UCN source at the tangential beamport C of the research reactor TRIGA Mainz. Based on a prototype for the future UCN source at the Forschungs-Neutronenquelle Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRMII) in munich, which was planned and built in collaboration with the Technical University of Munich, further investigations and improvements were done and are presented in this thesis. rnIn parallel, a second UCN source for the radial beamport D was designed and built. The comissioning of this new source is foreseen in spring 2010.rnAt beamport D with its higher thermal neutron flux, it should be possible to increase the available UCN densities of 4 UCN/cm³ by minimum one order of magnitude.

Leptonic CP violation

Several topics on CP violation in the lepton sector are reviewed. A few theoretical aspects concerning neutrino masses, leptonic mixing, and CP violation will be covered, with special emphasis on seesaw models. A discussion is provided on observable effects which are manifest in the presence of CP violation, particularly, in neutrino oscillations and neutrinoless double beta decay processes, and their possible implications in collider experiments such as the LHC. The role that leptonic CP violation may have played in the generation of the baryon asymmetry of the Universe through the mechanism of leptogenesis is also discussed.

Momento de dipolo elétrico do nêutron no modelo 3-3-1

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

An accurate combined 3 He,Cs magnetometer with fT sensitivity for the nEDM experiment at PSI

Diese Arbeit beschreibt die Entwicklung, Konstruktion und Untersuchung eines Magnetometers zur exakten und präzisen Messung schwacher Magnetfelder. Diese Art von Magnetometer eignet sich zur Anwendung in physikalischen hochpräzisions Experimenten wie zum Beispiel der Suche nach dem elektrischen Dipolmomentrndes Neutrons. Die Messmethode beruht auf der gleichzeitigen Detektion der freien Spin Präzession Kern-Spin polarisierten 3He Gases durch mehrere optisch gepumpte Cäsium Magnetometer. Es wird gezeigt, dass Cäsium Magnetometer eine zuverlässige und vielseitige Methode zur Messung der 3He Larmor Frequenz und eine komfortable Alternative zur Benutzung von SQUIDs für diesen Zweck darstellen. Ein Prototyp dieses Magnetometers wurde gebaut und seine Funktion in der magnetisch abgeschirmten Messkabine der Physikalisch Technischen Bundesanstalt untersucht. Die Sensitivität des Magnetometers in Abhängigkeitrnvon der Messdauer wurde experimentell untersucht. Es wird gezeigt, dass für kurze Messperioden (< 500s) Cramér-Rao limitierte Messungen möglich sind während die Sensitivität bei längeren Messungen durch die Stabilität des angelegten Magnetfeldes limitiert ist. Messungen eines 1 muT Magnetfeldes mit einer relative Genauigkeit von besser als 5x10^(-8) in 100s werden präsentiert. Es wird gezeigt, dass die Messgenauigkeit des Magnetometers durch die Zahl der zur Detektion der 3He Spin Präzession eingesetzten Cäsium Magnetometer skaliert werden kann. Prinzipiell ist dadurch eine Anpassung der Messgenauigkeit an jegliche experimentellen Bedürfnisse möglich. Es wird eine gradiometrische Messmethode vorgestellt, die es erlaubt den Einfluss periodischerrnmagnetischer Störungen auf dieMessung zu unterdrücken. Der Zusammenhang zwischen der Sensitivität des kombinierten Magnetometers und den Betriebsparametern der Cäsium Magnetometer die zur Spin Detektion verwendet werden wird theoretisch untersucht und anwendungsspezifische Vor- und Nachteile verschiedener Betriebsartenwerden diskutiert. Diese Zusammenhänge werden in einer Formel zusammengefasst die es erlaubt, die erwartete Sensitivität des Magnetometers zu berechnen. Diese Vorhersagen befinden sich in perfekter Übereinstimmung mit den experimentellen Daten. Die intrinsische Sensitivität des Magnetometer Prototyps wird auf Basis dieser Formel theoretisch bestimmt. Ausserdem wird die erwartete Sensitivität für die Anwendung im Rahmen des Experiments der nächsten Generation zur Bestimmung des elektrischenrnDipolmoments des Neutrons am Paul Scherrer Institut abgeschätzt. Des weiteren wird eine bequeme experimentelle Methode zur Messung des Polarisationsgrades und des Rabi Flip-Winkels der 3He Kernspin Polarisation vorgestellt. Letztere Messung ist sehr wichtig für die Anwendung in hochpräzisions Experimenten.

Soft superweak CP violation in a 3-3-1 model

We show that it is possible to implement soft superweak CP violation in the context of a 3-3-1 model with only three triplets. All CP violation effects come from the exchange of singly and doubly charged scalars. We consider the implication of this mechanism in the quark and lepton sectors. In particular it is shown that, in this model, as in most of those which incorporate scalar mediated CP violation, it is possible to have large electric dipole moments for the muon and the tau lepton while keeping small those of the electron and neutron. The CKM mixing matrix is real at the tree level but gets a phase at the 1-up loop level. ©1999 The American Physical Society.

Soft supcrweak CP violation in a 3-3-1 model

We show that it is possible to implement soft superweak CP violation in the context of a 3-3-1 model with only three triplets. All CP violation effects come from the exchange of singly and doubly charged scalars. We consider the implication of this mechanism in the quark and lepton sectors. In particular it is shown that, in this model, as in most of those which incorporate scalar mediated CP violation, it is possible to have large electric dioole moments for the muon and the tau lepton while keeping small those of the electron and neutron. The CKM mixing matrix is real at the tree level but gets a phase at the 1-up loop level. ©1999 The American Physical Society.

Aufbau und Inbetriebnahme eines hochsensitiven 3-He-Magnetometers für ein zukünftiges Experiment zur Bestimmung eines elektrischen Dipolmoments des freien Neutrons

Die Messung eines möglichen elektrischen Dipolmoments des freien Neutrons erfordert genaustmögliche Kenntnis und Überwachung des magnetischen Feldes im Inneren der n2EDM-Spektrometerkammer. Die freie Spinpräzession von hyperpolarisiertem ³He kann verbunden mit einer Signalauslese mittels optisch gepumpter Cs-Magnetometer dazu genutzt werden, Messempfindlichkeit auf Magnetfeldschwankungen im Bereich weniger Femto-Tesla zu erhalten. Am Institut für Physik der Universität Mainz wurde eine ³He/Cs-Testanlage aufgebaut, um die Möglichkeiten der Signalauslese der ³He-Spinpräzession mittels eines lampengepumpten Cs-Magnetometers zu untersuchen. Darüber hinaus wurde eine ultrakompakte und transportable Polarisationseinheit entwickelt und installiert, welche ermöglicht, eine ³He-Hyperpolarisation von bis zu 55 Prozent zu erreichen. Im Anschluss wird das polarisierte 3He-Gas automatisiert komprimiert und in zwei Magnetometerzellen in Sandwichanordnung innerhalb der n2EDM-Spektrometerkammer gefüllt. In dieser Arbeit werden die Ergebnisse der ersten im Januar 2012 erfolgreich durchgeführten Messungen vorgestellt. Bei diesen Messungen wurde ³He-Gas in der ultrakompakten Polarisationseinheit hyperpolarisiert und über Führungsfelder eines Transfersystems in eine vierlagige Mumetall-Abschirmung transferiert. Im Anschluss konnte im Inneren der magnetischen Abschirmung die freie ³He-Spinpräzession mittels eines lampengepumpten Cs-Magnetometer eindeutig nachgewiesen werden.

Electric dipole polarizability in 208Pb: insights from the droplet model

We study the electric dipole polarizability α D in 208 Pb based on the predictions of a large and representative set of relativistic and nonrelativistic nuclear mean-field models. We adopt the droplet model as a guide to better understand the correlations between α D and other isovector observables. Insights from the droplet model suggest that the product of α D and the nuclear symmetry energy at saturation density J is much better correlated with the neutron skin thickness r np of 208 Pb than the polarizability alone. Correlations of α D J with r np and with the symmetry energy slope parameter L suggest that α D J is a strong isovector indicator. Hence, we explore the possibility of constraining the isovector sector of the nuclear energy density functional by comparing our theoretical predictions against measurements of both α D and the parity-violating asymmetry in 208 Pb. We find that the recent experimental determination of α D in 208 Pb in combination with the range for the symmetry energy at saturation density J = [31 ± (2) est] MeV suggests r np (208 Pb) = 0 . 165 ± (0 . 009) expt ± (0 . 013) theor ± (0.021) est fm and L = 43 ± (6) expt ± (8) theor ± (12) est MeV

Study of direct CP violation in B±→J/ ψK±(π±) decays

We present a search for direct CP violation in B±→J/ ψK±(π±) decays. The event sample is selected from 2.8fb-1 of pp̄ collisions recorded by D0 experiment in run II of the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The charge asymmetry ACP(B+→J/ψK+)=+0.0075±0. 0061(stat)±0.0030(syst) is obtained using a sample of approximately 40000 B±→J/ψK± decays. The achieved precision is of the same level as the expected deviation predicted by some extensions of the standard model. We also measured the charge asymmetry ACP(B+→J/ψπ+)=-0. 09±0.08(stat)±0.03(syst). © 2008 The American Physical Society.

Influence of metallic nanoparticles on electric-dipole and magnetic-dipole transitions of Eu(3+) doped germanate glasses

Luminescence properties of Eu(3+) doped germanate glasses containing either silver or gold nanoparticles (NPs) were investigated for excitation at 405 nm. Enhanced emissions and luminescence quenching of the Eu(3+) transitions in the range from 570 to 720 nm were observed for samples having various concentrations of metallic NPs. Electric-dipole and magnetic-dipole transitions that originate from the Eu(3+) level (5)D(0) exhibit large enhancement due to the presence of the metallic NPs. The results suggest that the magnetic response of rare-earth doped metal-dielectric composites at optical frequencies can be as strong as their electric response due to the confinement of the optical magnetic field. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3431347]

Precise measurements of direct CP violation, CPT symmetry, and other parameters in the neutral kaon system

We present precise tests of CP and CPT symmetry based on the full data set of K -> pi pi decays collected by the KTeV experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory during 1996, 1997, and 1999. This data set contains 16 x 10(6) K -> pi(0)pi(0) and 69 x 10(6) K -> pi(+)pi(-) decays. We measure the direct CP violation parameter Re(epsilon'/epsilon) = (19.2 +/- 2.1) x 10(-4). We find the K(L) -> K(S) mass difference Delta m = (5270 +/- 12) x 10(6) (h) over tilde s(-1) and the K(S) lifetime tau(S) = (89.62 +/- 0.05) x 10(-12) s. We also measure several parameters that test CPT invariance. We find the difference between the phase of the indirect CP violation parameter epsilon and the superweak phase: phi(epsilon) - phi(SW) =(0.40 +/- 0.56)degrees. We measure the difference of the relative phases between the CP violating and CP conserving decay amplitudes for K -> pi(+)pi(-) (phi(+-)) and for K -> pi(0)pi(0) (phi(00)): Delta phi = (0.30 +/- 0.35)degrees. From these phase measurements, we place a limit on the mass difference between K(0) and (K) over bar (0): Delta M < 4.8 x 10(-19) GeV/c(2) at 95% C.L. These results are consistent with those of other experiments, our own earlier measurements, and CPT symmetry.

Spontaneous leptonic CP violation and nonzero theta(13)

We consider a simple extension of the Standard Model by adding two Higgs triplets and a complex scalar singlet to its particle content. In this framework, the CP symmetry is spontaneously broken at high energies by the complex vacuum expectation value of the scalar singlet. Such a breaking leads to leptonic CP violation at low energies. The model also exhibits an A(4) X Z(4) flavor symmetry which, after being spontaneously broken at a high-energy scale, yields a tribimaximal pattern in the lepton sector. We consider small perturbations around the tribimaximal vacuum alignment condition in order to generate nonzero values of theta(13), as required by the latest neutrino oscillation data. It is shown that the value of theta(13) recently measured by the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment can be accommodated in our framework together with large Dirac-type CP violation. We also address the viability of leptogenesis in our model through the out-of-equilibrium decays of the Higgs triplets. In particular, the CP asymmetries in the triplet decays into two leptons are computed and it is shown that the effective leptogenesis and low-energy CP-violating phases are directly linked.