Drs. Albert Young & Kent Leung along with collaborators from the European Spallation Source (Lund, Sweden), Los Alamos National Lab, and Oak Ridge National Lab have published a paper describing their concept of how to produce a next-generation ultracold neutron source. Such a source can be used to dramatically improve ultracold neutron experiments or allow whole new type of experiments that address questions in nuclear and particle physics, cosmology, astrophysics and condensed matter physics.

The paper was featured as a Editor’s pick in the Journal of Applied Physics (https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.5109879). A Scilight article that was published along with it can be found here: https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/10.0000359

Our paper “A New Cryogenic Apparatus to Search for the Neutron Electric Dipole Moment” was recently published in the Journal of Instrumentation, Vol. 14, P11017, 2019. It can be found here: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-0221/14/11/P11017

The apparatus is designed to produce an ultra-high density of ultra-cold neutrons (UNCs), which will be used to constrain the neutron’s electric dipole moment. The design will provide an ultimate statistical uncertainty for the EDM of 2−3× 10⁻²⁸ e-cm, with anticipated systematic uncertainties below this level.

In spring we completed cryogenic tests outside biological shield at the PULSTAR reactor and started preparations for tests with neutrons. First test in the biological shield is scheduled for themiddle of October. We will check our radiation shielding and probe neutron fluxes at different locations.

Undergraduate Jose Colon Rivera was named a Ronald E. McNair Scholar for the upcoming year, supporting his undergraduate research experience and helping him prepare for admission to a doctoral program and PhD completion.

Undergraduate Zach Hainsel interned at ORNL this summer, performing scintillator R&D in collaboration with the Physics Division aimed at improving reactor neutrino measurements and next-generation searches for neutrinoless double-beta decay.