1. Probing neutron-hidden neutron transitions with the MURMUR experiment
- Author
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Guillaume Pignol, O. Méplan, Michaël Sarrazin, S. Kalcheva, Coraline Stasser, Bernard Coupé, J. Lamblin, Steven Van Dyck, Guy Terwagne, Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie (LPSC), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP ), Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Univers, Transport, Interfaces, Nanostructures, Atmosphère et environnement, Molécules (UMR 6213) (UTINAM), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Franche-Comté (UFC), and Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté [COMUE] (UBFC)-Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté [COMUE] (UBFC)
- Subjects
Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors ,Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous) ,noise: low ,Nuclear Theory ,nucl-ex ,7. Clean energy ,01 natural sciences ,High Energy Physics - Experiment ,law.invention ,membrane model ,High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex) ,High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) ,law ,Limit (mathematics) ,Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex) ,Nuclear Experiment ,physics.ins-det ,Physics ,hep-ph ,Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det) ,matter: mirror ,nucleon: transition ,High Energy Physics - Phenomenology ,Electromagnetic shielding ,constraint ,Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,FOS: Physical sciences ,Context (language use) ,lcsh:Astrophysics ,[PHYS.NEXP]Physics [physics]/Nuclear Experiment [nucl-ex] ,Nuclear physics ,weak interaction ,0103 physical sciences ,lcsh:QB460-466 ,Neutron ,lcsh:Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity ,[PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-INS-DET]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Instrumentation and Detectors [physics.ins-det] ,010306 general physics ,Engineering (miscellaneous) ,010308 nuclear & particles physics ,hep-ex ,shielding ,background ,nucleus ,Nuclear reactor ,Nuclear reactor core ,regeneration ,lcsh:QC770-798 ,nuclear reactor ,Mirror matter ,experimental results - Abstract
MURMUR is a new passing-through-walls neutron experiment designed to constrain neutron/hidden neutron transitions allowed in the context of braneworld scenarios or mirror matter models. A nuclear reactor can act as a hidden neutron source, such that neutrons travel through a hidden world or sector. Hidden neutrons can propagate out of the nuclear core and far beyond the biological shielding. However, hidden neutrons can weakly interact with usual matter, making possible for their detection in the context of low-noise measurements. In the present work, the novelty rests on a better background discrimination and the use of a mass of a material - here lead - able to enhance regeneration of hidden neutrons into visible ones to improve detection. The input of this new setup is studied using both modelizations and experiments, thanks to tests currently performed with the experiment at the BR2 research nuclear reactor (SCK$\cdot$CEN, Mol, Belgium). A new limit on the neutron swapping probability p has been derived thanks to the measurements taken during the BR2 Cycle 02/2019A: $p < 4.0 \ \times 10^{-10}$ at 95% CL. This constraint is better than the bound from the previous passing-through-wall neutron experiment made at ILL in 2015, despite BR2 is less efficient to generate hidden neutrons by a factor 7.4, thus raising the interest of such experiment using regenerating materials., 15 pages, 8 figures, final version, accepted for publication in European Physical Journal C
- Published
- 2021