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.

References in corpus (53)

• A Unified Approach to the Classical Statistical Analysis of Small Signals
• Asymmetric Inflationary Reheating and the Nature of Mirror Universe
• Measurement of the neutron lifetime using a gravitational trap and a low-temperature Fomblin coating
• Reconciling Present Neutrino Puzzles: Sterile Neutrinos as Mirror Neutrinos
• The Early Mirror Universe: Inflation, Baryogenesis, Nucleosynthesis and Dark Matter
• Improved Determination of the Neutron Lifetime
• Mirror dark matter: Cosmology, galaxy structure and direct detection
• Dark Matter Interpretation of the Neutron Decay Anomaly
• Mirror particles and mirror matter: 50 years of speculation and search
• Mirror World and its Cosmological Consequences
• Neutron -- Mirror Neutron Oscillation: How Fast Might It Be?
• Neutron - Mirror Neutron Oscillations: How Fast Might They Be?
• US Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter 2017: Community Report
• Measurement of the neutron lifetime using an asymmetric magneto- gravitational trap and in situ detection
• Neutron Lifetime and Axial Coupling Connection
• Neutron-Antineutron Oscillations: Theoretical Status and Experimental Prospects
• The CKM unitarity problem: A trace of new physics at the TeV scale?
• Structure Formation with Mirror Dark Matter: CMB and LSS
• Mirror dark matter and large scale structure
• Neutron lifetime measurements with the big gravitational trap for ultracold neutrons
• Measurement of the Neutron Lifetime by Counting Trapped Protons in a Cold Neutron Beam
• Experimental search for neutron - mirror neutron oscillations using storage of ultracold neutrons
• Neutron lifetime puzzle and neutron -- mirror neutron oscillation
• More about neutron - mirror neutron oscillation
• A direct experimental limit on neutron -- mirror neutron oscillations
• Fast Neutron - Mirror Neutron Oscillation and Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays
• Search for the Neutron Decay n$\to$ X+$\gamma$ where X is a dark matter particle
• Neutron to Mirror-Neutron Oscillations in the Presence of Mirror Magnetic Fields
• Magnetic anomaly in UCN trapping: signal for neutron oscillations to parallel world?
• Search for neutron - mirror neutron oscillations in a laboratory experiment with ultracold neutrons
• Exotic decay channels are not the cause of the neutron lifetime anomaly
• New experimental limits on neutron - mirror neutron oscillations in the presence of mirror magnetic field
• Search for dark matter decay of the free neutron from the UCNA experiment: n $\to \chi +e^{+}{e}^{-}$
• A search for neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations
• Neutron - mirror neutron mixing and neutron stars
• Bounds on Neutron- Mirror Neutron Mixing from Pulsar Timings and Gravitational Wave Detections
• Neutron Stars with Baryon Number Violation, Probing Dark Sectors
• Neutron lifetime and dark decay of the neutron and hydrogen
• Neutron Disappearance and Regeneration from Mirror State
• Neutron Oscillations to Parallel World: Earlier End to the Cosmic Ray Spectrum?
• Constraints on the Dark Matter Interpretation $n\to \chi +e^{+}{e}^{-}$ of the Neutron Decay Anomaly with the PERKEO II experiment
• Experimental limits on neutron disappearance into another braneworld
• On the Neutron Transition Magnetic Moment
• Probing the braneworld hypothesis with a neutron-shining-through-a-wall experiment
• Searching for Hidden Neutrons with a Reactor Neutrino Experiment: Constraints from the STEREO Experiment
• Probing neutron-hidden neutron transitions with the MURMUR experiment
• Search for passing-through-walls neutrons constrains hidden braneworlds
• New search for mirror neutron regeneration
• A search for neutron to mirror neutron oscillation using neutron electric dipole moment measurements
• Antistars or antimatter cores in mirror neutron stars?
• $|\Delta \mathcal{B}|=2$: A State of the Field, and Looking Forward--A brief status report of theoretical and experimental physics opportunities
• Precise Neutron Lifetime Measurement Using Pulsed Neutron Beams at J-PARC
• Theoretical Constraints on Neutron--Mirror-Neutron Oscillation

Cited by in corpus (16)

• Neutron Stars with Baryon Number Violation, Probing Dark Sectors
• Dark sectors in neutron-shining-through-a-wall and nuclear absorption signals
• Neutron Dark Decay
• Neutron lifetime anomaly and mirror matter theory
• Opportunities and open questions in modern $\beta$ decay
• How Macroscopic Limits on Neutron Star Baryon Loss Yield Microscopic Limits on Non-Standard-Model Baryon Decay
• Search for a neutron dark decay in ${}^6$He
• A search for neutron-to-hidden-neutron oscillations in a ultra-cold neutron beam
• Leptoquarks, axions and the unification of B, L, and Peccei-Quinn symmetries
• Neutron-Mirror Neutron conversion in Vacuum, Trap, Material and Neutron Star
• Neutron-neutral particle mixing and its observable consequences
• Violation of C/CP Symmetry Induced by a Scalar Field Emerging from a Two-Brane Universe: A Gateway to Baryogenesis
• Stable bi-frequency spinor modes as Dark Matter candidates
• Detection of molecular hydrogen in a neutron beam lifetime experiment
• A novel technique of extracting UCN lifetimes from storage bottle measurements dominated by scattering losses
• Fundamental Neutron Physics: a White Paper on Progress and Prospects in the US