Publications (23)
Data blinding for the nEDM experiment at PSI
N. J. Ayres, G. Ban, G. Bison +42
Psychological bias towards, or away from, a prior measurement or a theory prediction is an intrinsic threat to any data analysis. While various methods can be used to avoid the bia…
The design of the n2EDM experiment
N. J. Ayres, G. Ban, L. Bienstman +58
We present the design of a next-generation experiment, n2EDM, currently under construction at the ultracold neutron source at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) with the aim of carr…
Time-of-flight spectroscopy of ultracold neutrons at the PSI UCN source
G. Bison, W. Chen, P. -J. Chiu +9
The ultracold neutron (UCN) source at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) provides high intensities of storable neutrons for fundamental physics experiments. The neutron velocity spe…
Generating a highly uniform magnetic field inside the magnetically shielded room of the n2EDM experiment
C. Abel, N. J. Ayres, G. Ban +63
We present a coil system designed to generate a highly uniform magnetic field for the n2EDM experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute. It consists of a main coil and a set of…
Search for an interaction mediated by axion-like particles with ultracold neutrons at the PSI
N. J. Ayres, G. Bison, K. Bodek +44
We report on a search for a new, short-range, spin-dependent interaction using a modified version of the experimental apparatus used to measure the permanent neutron electric dipol…
nEDM experiment at PSI: data-taking strategy and sensitivity of the dataset
C. Abel, N. J. Ayres, G. Ban +40
We report on the strategy used to optimize the sensitivity of our search for a neutron electric dipole moment at the Paul Scherrer Institute. Measurements were made upon ultracold…
New high-sensitivity search for neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations at the PSI UCN source
N. J. Ayres, Z. Berezhiani, G. Bison +19
In a search for potential signals of neutron (n) to mirror-neutron (n') oscillations, a collaboration centered at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) investigated the remaining param…
A large 'Active Magnetic Shield' for a high-precision experiment
C. Abel, N. J. Ayres, G. Ban +48
We present a novel Active Magnetic Shield (AMS), designed and implemented for the n2EDM experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute. The experiment will perform a high-sensitivity se…
The n2EDM experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute
C. Abel, N. J. Ayres, G. Ban +45
We present the new spectrometer for the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) search at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), called n2EDM. The setup is at room temperature in vacuum…
Statistical sensitivity of the nEDM apparatus at PSI to neutron mirror-neutron oscillations
C. Abel, N. Ayres, G. Bison +33
The neutron and its hypothetical mirror counterpart, a sterile state degenerate in mass, could spontaneously mix in a process much faster than the neutron -decay. Two groups ha…
Achieving ultra-low and -uniform residual magnetic fields in a very large magnetically shielded room for fundamental physics experiments
N. J. Ayres, G. Ban, G. Bison +47
High-precision searches for an electric dipole moment of the neutron (nEDM) require stable and uniform magnetic field environments. We present the recent achievements of degaussing…
Johnson-Nyquist Noise Effects in Neutron Electric-Dipole-Moment Experiments
N. J. Ayres, G. Ban, G. Bison +37
Magnetic Johnson-Nyquist noise (JNN) originating from metal electrodes, used to create a static electric field in neutron electric-dipole-moment (nEDM) experiments, may limit the s…
Improved search for neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations in the presence of mirror magnetic fields with a dedicated apparatus at the PSI UCN source
N. J. Ayres, Z. Berezhiani, R. Biondi +22
While the international nEDM collaboration at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) took data in 2017 that covered a considerable fraction of the parameter space of claimed potential si…
Ultracold neutron energy spectrum and storage properties from magnetically induced spin depolarization
N. J. Ayres, G. Ban, G. Bison +53
We present a novel method for extracting the energy spectrum of ultracold neutrons from magnetically induced spin depolarization measurements using the n2EDM apparatus. This method…
Measurement of the permanent electric dipole moment of the neutron
C. Abel, S. Afach, N. J. Ayres +81
We present the result of an experiment to measure the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the neutron at the Paul Scherrer Institute using Ramsey's method of separated oscillating magn…
Measurement of the neutron incoherent scattering length of Hg using stored ultracold neutrons
C. Abel, K. Bodek, E. Chanel +35
We present the first direct measurement of the neutron incoherent scattering length of Hg. The measurement was performed with the Ramsey apparatus of the neutron electric…
Characterization of ultracold neutron production in thin solid deuterium films at the PSI Ultracold Neutron source
G. Bison, B. Blau, W. Chen +13
We determined the ultracold neutron (UCN) production rate by superthermal conversion in the solid deuterium (sD) moderator of the UCN source at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI…
A search for neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations
C. Abel, N. J. Ayres, G. Ban +40
It has been proposed that there could be a mirror copy of the standard model particles, restoring the parity symmetry in the weak interaction on the global level. Oscillations betw…
Magnetic field uniformity in neutron electric dipole moment experiments
C. Abel, N. Ayres, T. Baker +53
Magnetic field uniformity is of the utmost importance in experiments to measure the electric dipole moment of the neutron. A general parametrization of the magnetic field in terms…
The `n2EDM MSR' -- a very large magnetically shielded room with an exceptional performance for fundamental physics measurements
N. J. Ayres, G. Ban, G. Bison +41
We present the magnetically shielded room (MSR) for the n2EDM experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute which features an interior cubic volume with each side of length 2.92m, thus…
Mapping of the magnetic field to correct systematic effects in a neutron electric dipole moment experiment
C. Abel, N. J. Ayres, G. Ban +50
Experiments dedicated to the measurement of the electric dipole moment of the neutron require outstanding control of the magnetic field uniformity. The neutron electric dipole mome…
Search for ultralight axion dark matter in a side-band analysis of a 199Hg free-spin precession signal
C. Abel, N. J. Ayres, G. Ban +35
Ultra-low-mass axions are a viable dark matter candidate and may form a coherently oscillating classical field. Nuclear spins in experiments on Earth might couple to this oscillati…
Optically Pumped Cs Magnetometers Enabling a High-Sensitivity Search for the Neutron Electric Dipole Moment
C. Abel, S. Afach, N. J. Ayres +57
An array of sixteen laser-pumped scalar Cs magnetometers was part of the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) experiment taking data at the Paul Scherrer Institute in 2015 and 201…