A search for neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations using the nEDM apparatus at PSI

C. Abel , N.J. Ayres , G. Ban (1) , G. Bison , K. Bodek , V. Bondar , E. Chanel , P.-J Chiu , C. Crawford , M. Daum , R.T. Dinani , S. Emmenegger , P. Flaux (1) , L. Ferraris-Bouchez (2) , W.C. Griffith , Z.D. Grujić , N. Hild , K. Kirch , H.-C Koch , P.A. Koss , A. Kozela , J. Krempel , B. Lauss , T. Lefort (1) , A. Leredde (2) , P. Mohanmurthy , O. Naviliat-Cuncic (1) , D. Pais , F.M. Piegsa , G. Pignol (2) , M. Rawlik , D. Rebreyend (2) , I. Rienãďcker , D. Ries , S. Roccia (2, 3) , D. Rozpäździk , P. Schmidt-Wellenburg , N. Severijns , J. Thorne , A. Weis , E. Wursten , J. Zejma , G. Zsigmond

1 LPCC - Laboratoire de physique corpusculaire de Caen
2 LPSC - Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie
3 ILL - Institut Laue-Langevin

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 between a neutral standard model particle, such as the neutron, and its mirror counterpart could potentially answer various standing issues in physics today. Astrophysical studies and terrestrial experiments led by ultracold neutron storage measurements have investigated neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations and imposed constraints on the theoretical parameters. Recently, further analysis of these ultracold neutron storage experiments has yielded statistically significant anomalous signals that may be interpreted as neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations, assuming nonzero mirror magnetic fields. The neutron electric dipole moment collaboration performed a dedicated search at the Paul Scherrer Institute and found no evidence of neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations. Thereby, the following new lower limits on the oscillation time were obtained: τnn′>352 s at B′=0 (95% C.L.), τnn′>6s for 0.4μT9s for 5.0μT

Keywords: numerical calculations; asymmetry; rotation; S017NOS; Properties of neutrons Ultracold neutrons Nuclear matter Mirror matter Dark matter Particle symmetries; Properties of neutrons; Ultracold neutrons; Nuclear matter; Mirror matter; Dark matter; Particle symmetries; n: electric moment; oscillation: time; parity: symmetry; mirror; magnetic field; weak interaction

Domains: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology [hep-ph]; Nuclear Experiment [nucl-ex]; General Physics [physics.gen-ph]

C. Abel, N.J. Ayres, G. Ban, G. Bison, K. Bodek, et al.. A search for neutron to mirror-neutron oscillations using the nEDM apparatus at PSI. Phys.Lett.B, 2021, 812, pp.135993. ⟨10.1016/j.physletb.2020.135993⟩. ⟨hal-02966257⟩