Free neutrons have a measured lifetime of 880 s, but disagreement between existing laboratory measurements of ~10 s have persisted over many years. This uncertainty has implications for multiple physics disciplines, including standard-model particle physics and Big-Bang nucleosynthesis. Space-based neutron lifetime measurements have been shown to be feasible using existing data taken at Venus and the Moon, although the uncertainties for these measurements of tens of seconds prevent addressing the current lifetime discrepancy. We investigate the implementation of a dedicated space-based experiment that could provide a competitive and independent lifetime measurement. We considered a variety of scenarios, including measurements made from orbit about the Earth, Moon, and Venus, as well as on the surface of the Moon. For a standard-sized neutron detector, a measurement with three-second statistical precision can be obtained from Venus orbit in less than a day; a one-second statistical precision can be obtained from Venus orbit in less than a week. Similarly precise measurements in Earth orbit and on the lunar surface can be acquired in less than 40 days (three-second precision) and ~300 days (one-second precision). Systematic uncertainties that affect a space-based neutron lifetime measurement are investigated, and the feasibility of developing such an experiment is discussed.
Since long neutron lifetimes measured with a beam of cold neutrons are significantly different from lifetimes measured with ultracold neutrons bottled in a trap. It is often speculated that this "neutron anomaly" is due to an exotic dark neutron decay channel of unknown origin. We show that this explanation of the neutron anomaly can be excluded with a high level of confidence when use is made of new data on neutron decay parameters. Furthermore, data from neutron decay now compare well with Ft data derived from nuclear \b{eta} decays.
Recent $_Λ^3$H lifetime measurements in relativistic heavy ion collision experiments have yielded values shorter by (30$\pm$8)% than the free $Λ$ lifetime $τ_Λ$, thereby questioning the naive expectation that $τ({_Λ^3}{\rm H})\approxτ_Λ$ for a weakly bound $Λ$ hyperon. Here we apply the closure approximation introduced by Dalitz and coworkers to evaluate the $_Λ^3$H lifetime, using $_Λ^3$H wavefunctions generated by solving three-body Faddeev equations. Our result, disregarding pion final-state interaction (FSI), is $τ({_Λ^3}{\rm H})$=(0.90$\pm$0.01)$τ_Λ$. In contrast to previous works, pion F…
O(1) eV sterile neutrino can be responsible for a number of anomalous results of neutrino oscillation experiments. This hypothesis may be tested at short base-line neutrino oscillation experiments, several of which are either ongoing or under construction. Here we concentrate on the so-called Gallium anomaly, found by SAGE and GALLEX experiments, and its foreseeable future tests with BEST experiment at Baksan Neutrino Observatory. We start with a revision of the neutrino-gallium cross section, that is performed by utilizing the recent measurements of the nuclear final state spectra. We accordi…
An unexplained $>4\,σ$ discrepancy persists between "beam" and "bottle" measurements of the neutron lifetime. A new model proposed that conversions of neutrons $n$ into mirror neutrons $n'$, part of a dark mirror sector, can increase the apparent neutron lifetime by $1\%$ via a small mass splitting $Δ{m}$ between $n$ and $n'$ inside the 4.6 T magnetic field of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Beam Lifetime experiment. A search for neutron conversions in a 6.6 T magnetic field was performed at the Spallation Neutron Source which excludes this explanation for the neutron lifeti…
The review of experimental measurements of neutron lifetime is presented. Latest measurements with gravitational trap (PNPI NRC KI) and magnetic trap (LANL, USA) confirmed the result obtained by PNPI group in 2005. The results of measurements performed using UCN storing method are in good agreement; however, there is a significant discrepancy at 3.6σ (1% of decay probability) level with beam method experiment. The latest most accurate measurements of the neutron decay asymmetry and neutron lifetime measurements by storage method are in agreement within the Standard Model. This article discusse…
The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino experiment (KATRIN) combines an ultra-luminous molecular tritium source with an integrating high-resolution spectrometer to gain sensitivity to the absolute mass scale of neutrinos. The projected sensitivity of the experiment on the electron neutrino mass is 200 meV at 90% C.L. With such unprecedented resolution, the experiment is also sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model, particularly to the existence of additional sterile neutrinos at the eV mass scale. A recent analysis of available reactor data appears to favor the existence of such such a sterile n…
A fundamental property of QCD is the presence of the chiral anomaly, which is the primary component of the $π^0\rightarrowγγ$ decay amplitude. Based on this anomaly and its small ($\simeq$ 4.5%) chiral correction, a firm prediction of the $π^0$ lifetime can be used as a test of QCD at confinement scale energies. The interesting experimental and theoretical histories of the $π^0$ meson are reviewed, from discovery to the present era. Experimental results are in agreement with the theoretical prediction, within the current ($\simeq$ 3%) experimental error; however, they are not yet sufficiently …
The results of measurements performed using UCN storing method are in good agreement. The latest most accurate measurements of the neutron decay asymmetry and neutron lifetime measurements by storage method are in agreement within the Standard Model. However, there is a significant discrepancy at $3.6σ$ (1% of decay probability) level with beam method experiment. This article discusses the possible causes of discrepancy in the measurements of the neutron lifetime with beam method experiment. The most probable cause, apparently, is the loss of protons in beam method experiment during storage in…
We present a parametrization of the observed enhancement in the transverse electron quasielastic (QE) response function for nucleons bound in carbon as a function of the square of the four momentum transfer (Q2) in terms of a correction to the magnetic form factors of bound nucleons. The parametrization should also be applicable to the transverse cross section in neutrino scattering. If the transverse enhancement originates from meson exchange currents (MEC), then it is theoretically expected that any enhancement in the longitudinal or axial contributions is small. We present the predictions o…
All results of the neutron lifetime measurements performed in the last 20 years with the UCN storage method are in a good agreement. These results are consistent with the latest most accurate measurements of the neutron decay asymmetry within the Standard Model. However, there is a significant discrepancy at $3.6σ$ (1% of the decay probability) level between the averaged result of the storage method experiments and the most accurate measurements performed with the beam method. This article addresses the possible causes of such discrepancy. We focused on finding the spectrum of possible systema…
The puzzle remains in the large discrepancy between neutron lifetime measured by the two distinct experimental approaches -- counts of beta decays in a neutron beam and storage of ultracold neutrons in a potential trap, namely, the beam method versus the bottle method. In this paper, we propose a new experiment to measure the neutron lifetime in a cold neutron beam with a sensitivity goal of 0.1% or sub-1 second. The neutron beta decays will be counted in a superfluid helium-4 scintillation detector at 0.5 K, and the neutron flux will be simultaneously monitored by the helium-3 captures in the…
A review is focused on experimental measurements on neutron lifetime. The latest measurements with a gravitational trap (PNPI NRC KI) and a magnetic trap (LANL, USA) confirmed PNPI result of 2005. The results of measurements with storage of ultra cold neutrons are in agreement, yet, there is discrepancy with a beam experiment by $3.5σ$ (1% of decay probability), which is discussed in literature as "neutron anomaly" along with the ideas of explaining it by decay into dark matter partially. The second part of the paper is devoted to so called "reactor antineutrino anomaly", which refers to defic…
There is a long-standing discrepancy between the neutron lifetime measured in beam and bottle experiments. We propose to explain this anomaly by a dark decay channel for the neutron, involving one or more dark sector particles in the final state. If any of these particles are stable, they can be the dark matter. We construct representative particle physics models consistent with all experimental constraints.
Resolving anomalous collectivity in the $4_1^+$ to $2_1^+$ transition of $^{58}$Fe
The Australian National University（澳大利亚国立大学）；Oak Ridge National Laboratory（橡树岭国家实验室）；University of Tennessee（田纳西大学）；CEA, LIST, Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel (LNE-LNHB)（法国原子能委员会，科学与技术列表局，亨利·贝克勒尔国家实验室）；Université Paris-Saclay（巴黎萨克雷大学）
Discrepancies from in-beam and in-bottle type experiments measuring the neutron lifetime are on the 4$σ$ standard deviation level. In a recent publication Fornal and Grinstein proposed that the puzzle could be solved if the neutron would decay on the one percent level via a dark decay mode, one possible branch being $n \rightarrow χ+ e^+ e^-$. With data from the \perkeoII experiment we set limits on the branching fraction and exclude a one percent contribution for $95\,\%$ of the allowed mass range for the dark matter particle.
The lifetimes of the low-lying excited states $2^+$ and $4^+$ have been directly measured in the neutron-deficient $^{106,108}$Sn isotopes. The nuclei were populated via a deep-inelastic reaction and the lifetime measurement was performed employing a differential plunger device. The emitted $γ$ rays were detected by the AGATA array, while the reaction products were uniquely identified by the VAMOS++ magnetic spectrometer. Large-Scale Shell-Model calculations with realistic forces indicate that, independently of the pairing content of the interaction, the quadrupole force is dominant in the $B(…
New Ground State in ${}^{149}$La Removes Two-Neutron-Separation-Energy Anomaly in Lanthanum Isotopes
High Energy Accelerator Research Organization（高能加速器研究机构）；Advanced Energy Science and Technology GuangDong Laboratory（广东省先进能源科学与技术实验室）；Institute of Modern Physics, Huizhou branch, Chinese Academy of Science（中国科学院近代物理研究所惠州分院）；RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science（理化学研究所仁科加速器科学中心）；Department of Physics, School of Science and Technology, Meiji University（明治大学理工学部物理学科）；Department of Physics, Kyushu University（九州大学物理学系）
