Search for macroscopic CP violating forces using a neutron EDM spectrometer

Abstract

The search for CP violating forces between nucleons in the so-called axion window of force ranges λ between 2 × 10⁻⁵ m and 0.02 m is interesting because only little experimental information is available there. Axionlike particles would induce a pseudo-magnetic field for neutrons close to bulk matter. A laboratory search investigates neutron spin precession close to a heavy mirror using ultracold neutrons in a magnetic resonance spectrometer. From the absence of a shift of the magnetic resonance we established new constraints on the coupling strength of axion-like particles in terms of the product g _s g _p of scalar and pseudo-scalar dimensionless constants, as a function of the force range λ, g _s g _p λ² ≤ 2 × 10⁻²¹ [cm²] (C.L.95%) for 10⁻⁴ cm < λ < 1 cm. For 0.1 cm < λ < 1 cm previous limits are improved by 4 to 5 orders of magnitude.