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Measurement of the Neutron Lifetime with Ultracold Neutrons Stored in a Magneto-Gravitational Trap

  • Fields, Particles, and Nuclei
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Abstract

We report a measurement of the neutron lifetime using ultracold neutrons stored in a magneto-gravitational trap made of permanent magnets. Neutrons surviving in the trap after fixed storage times have been counted and the trap losses have continuously been monitored during storage by detecting neutrons leaking from the trap. The value of the neutron lifetime resulting from this measurement is τn = (878.3 ± 1.6stat ± 1.0syst) A unique feature of this experiment is the monitoring of leaking neutrons providing a robust control of the main systematic loss.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, National Research Center Kurchatov Institute, Gatchina, 188300, Russia

    V. F. Ezhov, A. Z. Andreev, B. A. Bazarov, A. G. Glushkov, V. A. Knyazkov, G. B. Krygin & V. L. Ryabov

  2. St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia

    V. F. Ezhov

  3. Université de Caen Normandie, Caen, 14032, France

    G. Ban & O. Naviliat-Cuncic

  4. Institut Laue–Langevin, Grenoble, 38042, France

    P. Geltenbort

  5. Efremov Scientific Research Institute of Electrophysical Apparatus, St. Petersburg, 196641, Russia

    N. A. Kovrizhnykh

  6. National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    O. Naviliat-Cuncic

Authors
  1. V. F. Ezhov
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  2. A. Z. Andreev
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  3. G. Ban
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  4. B. A. Bazarov
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  5. P. Geltenbort
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  6. A. G. Glushkov
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  7. V. A. Knyazkov
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  8. N. A. Kovrizhnykh
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  9. G. B. Krygin
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  10. O. Naviliat-Cuncic
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  11. V. L. Ryabov
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Correspondence to V. F. Ezhov.

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Ezhov, V.F., Andreev, A.Z., Ban, G. et al. Measurement of the Neutron Lifetime with Ultracold Neutrons Stored in a Magneto-Gravitational Trap. Jetp Lett. 107, 671–675 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0021364018110024

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0021364018110024

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