Published October 10, 2003
| Version v1
Journal article
Measurement of the neutron lifetime using a proton trap
Creators
- 1. European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, 2440 Geel (Belgium)
- 2. University of Tennessee/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996 (United States)
- 3. Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47408 (United States)
- 4. Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118 (United States)
- 5. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899 (United States)
Description
We report a new measurement of the neutron decay lifetime by the absolute counting of in-beam neutrons and their decay protons. Protons were confined in a quasi-Penning trap and counted with a silicon detector. The neutron beam fluence was measured by capture in a thin LiF6 foil detector with known absolute efficiency. The combination of these simultaneous measurements gives the neutron lifetime: τn=(886.8±1.2[stat]±3.2[syst]) s. The systematic uncertainty is dominated by uncertainties in the mass of the LiF6 deposit and the Li6(n,t) cross section. This is the most precise measurement of the neutron lifetime to date using an in-beam method
Additional details
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.152302;
- arXiv
- arXiv:nucl-ex/0311006v1;
Publishing Information
- Journal Title
- Physical Review Letters
- Journal Volume
- 91
- Journal Issue
- 15
- Journal Page Range
- p. 152302-152302.4
- ISSN
- 0031-9007
- CODEN
- PRLTAO
INIS
- Country of Publication
- United States
- Country of Input or Organization
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- INIS RN
- 36009640
- Subject category
- S73: NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS;
- Descriptors DEI
- ABSOLUTE COUNTING; BETA DECAY; CAPTURE; CROSS SECTIONS; ENERGY LEVELS; FOILS; LIFETIME; LITHIUM 6 TARGET; LITHIUM FLUORIDES; NEUTRON BEAMS; NEUTRON REACTIONS; NEUTRONS; PROTONS; SI SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS; TRAPS
- Descriptors DEC
- ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS; BARYON REACTIONS; BARYONS; BEAMS; COUNTING TECHNIQUES; DECAY; ELEMENTARY PARTICLES; FERMIONS; FLUORIDES; FLUORINE COMPOUNDS; HADRON REACTIONS; HADRONS; HALIDES; HALOGEN COMPOUNDS; LITHIUM COMPOUNDS; LITHIUM HALIDES; MEASURING INSTRUMENTS; NUCLEAR DECAY; NUCLEAR REACTIONS; NUCLEON BEAMS; NUCLEON REACTIONS; NUCLEONS; PARTICLE BEAMS; RADIATION DETECTORS; SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS; TARGETS
Optional Information
- Notes
- (c) 2003 The American Physical Society