There is great interest in improving the limits on neutron lifetime to the level of a
precision of 0.1 s. The neutron lifetime is both an important fundamental
quantity as well as parameter influencing important processes such as
nucleosynthesis (Helium production in the early universe) and the rate of energy
production in the sun.
It is the goal of the sponsoring institutions to create a roadmap of R&D needed
to reach a decision point on an approach to a next generation neutron lifetime
experiment that can be endorsed by the North American neutron community.
The focus will be on experiments using traps using ultracold neutrons and
confinement by a combination of magnetic and/or gravitational interaction in
order to avoid systematic uncertainties introduced by neutron interactions with
material walls.
Today, there are various experimental approaches being considered by a
number of independent groups. In order to create a coherent path forward a
number of issues need to be considered:
- Identifying the limitations of existing experiments
- Assessment of whether multiple experiments could be needed
- Identifying systematic effects that might come in at this new
level of precision
- Assessing the adequacy of existing neutron sources to carry out R&D
work and to carry out the most promising experiment(s).
- Identifying physics questions to be answered before an experimental
approach can be finalized.
- Identifying technical issues to be resolved before an experimental
approach can be finalized.
- Identify the criteria to be used to choose the ultimate experiment (s) that
will be pursued
The format of the workshop will be a series of talks addressing the
above issues followed by discussions by working groups to reach
conclusions and sharpen approaches to issues. The product of the
workshop will be; 1. A proceedings consisting of the contributions of
the participants and 2. A white paper that answers as many as possible
of the above bullets these, as well as other questions identified by
the participants. It is envisioned this white paper will be an
important input to the next Long Range Plan in nuclear physics.
Registration Information:
In order to plan appropriately for the workshop, we ask that all
participants register at the website below. There is no cost for
registration, but this this will ensure that we reserve a the appropriate
size room for the meeting.
http://lansce.lanl.gov/UCN/registration.shtml
Lodging Information:
The conference will be held at the La Posada de Sante Fe Resort and Spa in Sante Fe, NM.
http://www.laposadadesantafe.com
There is a block of rooms under the name "Next Generation", at the Government rate of
$83.00 per night. You can make a reservation by calling (505) 986-0000 and asking for the
reservations desk. The La Posada Hotel cutoff date for making this reservation is October 9.
After this date they cannot guarantee the government rate or that rooms will be available.
If you need additional assistance in making your reservations, please
contact Rose Romero at rbromero@lanl.gov or call at (505) 665-7657.
Download a printable version of the schedule
Final Schedule with speakers and talks:
Day 1 (Friday, Nov. 9, 2012) - Montana Ballroom
- Morning (Introduction/Overview)
- 8:00 - Welcome & Charge (Seestrom, LANL)
- 8:15 - Theoretical
Introduction (Marciano, BNL)
- 8:45 - Overview of Beam Experiments
(Wietfeldt, Tulane)
- 9:25 - Overview of Material Bottle
Experiments (Geltenbort, ILL)
- 10:40 -
Overview of Magnetic Trap Experiments (Huffman, NC State/ORNL)
- 11:20 - Phase Space Evolution (Liu,
Indiana University)
Afternoon (Overview of physics issues)
1:20 - Marginal Trapping
(Coakley, NIST)
1:50 - Chaos (Bowman, ORNL)
2:45 - Spin-flip losses
(Steyerl, U. Rhode Island)
3:15 - UCN heating in traps
(Walstrom, LANL)
4:00 - Blind analysis (Golub, NCSU)
4:30 - Absolute flux monitoring
(Yue, NIST)
5:00 - Relative monitoring +
Uniformity of Detectors (Morris, LANL)
5:30 - Overview of UCN
Sources and Statistics Needed for 1s Uncertainty and Below (Young, NC State)
Day 2 (Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012) - Montana Ballroom
- Morning ("Magnetic Trap" Experiments in Progress)
- 8:00 - Ezhov Experiment
(Naviliat-Cuncic, MSU)
- 8:40 - NIST UCN Experiment (Mumm,
NIST)
- 9:20 - Hope (Leung, Munich/ILL)
- 10:30 - LANL Experiment
(Saunders, LANL)
- 11:10 - Penelope (Picker,
CalTech)
- 11:50 - J-Parc Lifetime (Yamada,
University of Tokyo)
Afternoon (Panel Members: Freedman/Kumar/Pendlebury/Dubbers)
2:00 - Panel Discussion (R&D Program, Strategy for Funding)
4:00 - Community Summary (~15 minutes per panel member)
Expert Panel:
- S.K. Freedman, University of California, Berkeley
- K. Kumar, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
- M. Pendlebury, University of Sussex
- D. Dubbers, University of Heidelburg
Organizing Committee:
- J.D. Bowman, bowmanjd@ornl.gov, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- P.R. Huffman, paul_huffman@ncsu.edu, North Carolina State University
- C.-Y. Liu, cl21@indiana.edu, Indiana University
- H.P. Mumm, hans.mumm@nist.gov, National Institute of Standards and Technology
- A. Konaka, konaka@triumf.ca, TRIUMF
- A. Saunders, asaunders@lanl.gov, Los Alamos National Laboratory
- S.J. Seestrom, seestrom@lanl.gov, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Sponsors:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- TRIUMF