Experimental Search for Neutron to Mirror Neutron Oscillations as an Explanation of the Neutron Lifetime Anomaly

Abstract

An unexplained $>4\sigma$ discrepancy persists between "beam" and "bottle" measurements of the neutron lifetime. A new model proposed that conversions of neutrons $n$ into mirror neutrons $n^{\prime }$, part of a dark mirror sector, can increase the apparent neutron lifetime by $1\%$ via a small mass splitting $\Delta m$ between $n$ and $n^{\prime }$ 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 lifetime discrepancy.

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