Köln 2025 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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HK: Fachverband Physik der Hadronen und Kerne

HK 54: Fundamental Symmetries II

HK 54.2: Gruppenbericht

Donnerstag, 13. März 2025, 16:15–16:45, SR 0.01 Erw. Physik

Ultra-cold neutron storage and lifetime measurement in the fully magnetic trap τSPECT — •Sylvain Vanneste for the tauSPECT collaboration — Institut für Physik , Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany

The accurate determination of the free neutron lifetime is of particular interest in modern precision physics. Its value is closely linked to the mixing of up and down quarks, as well as the abundance of primordial elements formed during Big Bang nucleosynthesis. Currently, two distinct measurement techniques yield results that are inconsistent, giving rise to the so-called neutron lifetime puzzle.

To minimize experimental systematic uncertainties caused by neutron losses on material walls, the experiment τSPECT employs a fully magnetic trap for Ultra-Cold Neutrons (UCNs). This work presents the latest commissioning results of τSPECT at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland, including UCN loading optimization, systematic studies, comparisons with simulations, neutron lifetime measurements, and proposed future improvements.

Keywords: neutron; lifetime; magnetic; tap; UCN