Speaker
Prof.
Albert Young
(North Carolina State University/Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory)
Description
Neutron-antineutron oscillations provide an extremely sensitive probe
for new interactions that change baryon number by 2
units. The discovery of oscillations would have broad impact in
particle physics and cosmology: it would imply all matter
containing neutrons is ultimately unstable and could inform our understanding
of the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. A
next-generation neutron-antineutron oscillations experiment, NNbarX,
is being planned as a part of Project X at Fermilab. This experiment
would utilize a cold-neutron source situated at a 1 MW spallation
target dedicated to particle physics experiments. When coupled to an
optimized, elliptical neutron reflector in a horizontal geometry, a
sensitivity improvement of roughly two orders of magnitude (for one year
of running) is expected over the previous limit for the free neutron.
We present an overview of the conceptual approach, the expected sensitivity,
and ongoing research and development on aspects of the experimental
layout, neutronics design, and components of the annihilation detector.
Author
Prof.
Albert Young
(North Carolina State University/Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory)
