RUI: Search for the Electric Dipole Moment of the Neutron

该奖项支持的主要物理项目是寻找中子的电偶极矩，如果找到它，将标志着超越粒子物理标准模型的物理学的新物理，标准粒子物理模型描述了已知物质主要元素的存在和性质。探索超越标准模型(BSM)的物理是21世纪物理学的主要目标之一。这项名为中子电偶极矩(NEDM)的实验将在橡树岭国家实验室进行，使用由一个机构联盟建造和测试的仪器。探测器的建造和数据将在未来几年内进行，这将为瓦尔帕莱索大学的本科生提供第一手的尖端研究经验。精确测量中子的性质为寻找基本对称性的破坏和对标准模型的有效性进行关键测试提供了机会。标准模型几乎禁止了中子永久电偶极矩的存在，而对标准模型的扩展预测了中子在不同强度下的电偶极矩，这可能是通过这个实验可以实现的。NEDM的发现将意味着对时间反转不变性的破坏，以及对电荷宇称对称性的破坏，这取决于它的大小，这意味着宇宙中的粒子-反粒子不对称。粒子电偶极矩的测量为标准模型的扩展提供了一些最严格的限制。与以前的实验相比，该实验旨在将灵敏度提高100倍。

The main physics program supported by this award is to search for an electric dipole moment of the neutron, which if found would signal new physics beyond the physics of the Standard Model of particle physics, which describes the existence and properties of the principal elementary constituents of known matter. The search for physics Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) is one of the primary goals of physics in the 21st century. The experiment, called the neutron Electric Dipole Moment (nEDM), will be carried out at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, using instruments constructed and tested by a consortium of institutions. Construction of the detector and the data taking will take place in the next few years, providing first hand experience in cutting edge research for undergraduates at Valparaiso University.Precision measurement of the properties of the neutron presents an opportunity to search for violations of fundamental symmetries and to make critical tests of the validity of the Standard Model. The Standard Model nearly prohibits the existence of a permanent electric dipole moment of the neutron, whereas extensions to the Standard Model predict an electric dipole moment of the neutron at varying strengths that are potentially attainable by this experiment. The discovery of a nEDM would imply a violation of time reversal invariance and a violation of charge-parity symmetry that, depending on its magnitude, has implications for the particle-antiparticle asymmetry in the universe. Measurements of the particle electric dipole moment provide some of the tightest constraints on extensions to the Standard Model. The experiment is designed to improve the sensitivity by a factor of 100 compared to previous experiments.