CAREER: Low-energy Nuclear Physics and Fundamental Symmetries with Neutrons and Cryogenic Technologies

中子是物质最简单的组成部分之一，也是理解和测试一些最基本的物理概念最有用的材料之一。 该奖项将支持PI在两个备受瞩目的实验中发挥领导作用，这些实验将使用新技术来推进这些实验。 一个实验将以高灵敏度确定中子是否具有永久的电荷分布，这将对时间和能量对称性的关系产生深远的影响。 PI计划优化用于中子的超冷存储单元和用于该实验的新型磁力计。 PI将在第二个实验中使用类似的超冷系统来测试中子暴露于外部电磁场时的刚度。 该奖项还将支持PI的计划，从获奖者的家庭机构和附近的社区学院招募学生参加研究活动。 通过获得高技术低温和计算技术的技能，学生将为STEM领域的职业生涯做好充分准备。 该奖项将支持PI在两个备受瞩目的实验（nEDM@SNS和三角大学核实验室（TUNL）高强度伽马射线源（HIGS）的康普顿散射）中的领导作用。 nEDM实验是对时间反演对称性破缺（即中子的非零EDM）的探索，康普顿散射可以用来测量核子的极化率，从而测试QCD的最新模型。 对于nEDM实验，PI将优化低温测量单元，并使用氮空位金刚石开发低场磁力测量，以提高EDM测量的系统性。同样的低温系统将被用于研究热和动态极化质子和氘核在HIgS。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得的支持，通过评估使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

The neutron is one of the simplest building blocks of matter and also one of the most useful in understanding and testing some of the most fundamental concepts of physics. This award will support the PI in leadership roles in two high-profile experiments that will use novel technologies to advance those experiments. One experiment will determine with high sensitivity whether the neutron has a permanent distribution of charge, which would have profound impacts on how time and energy symmetries are related. The PI plans to optimize an ultracold storage cell for neutrons and a new type of magnetometer for this experiment. The PI will use a similar ultracold system in a second experiment to test the stiffness of neutrons when exposed to external electromagnetic fields. The award will also support the PI’s plan for recruiting students from the awardee’s home institution and a nearby community college into the research activities. By gaining skills in highly technical cryogenic and computational techniques, the students will be well prepared for careers in STEM fields. This award will support the PI’s leadership roles in two high-profile experiments (nEDM@SNS and Compton scattering at the High Intensity gamma-ray Source (HIgs) at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL). The nEDM experiment is a search for time reversal symmetry breaking (i.e. a non-zero EDM of the neutron) and Compton scattering can be used to measure the polarizability of the nucleon and thus test the latest models of QCD. For the nEDM experiment, the PI will optimize the cryogenic measurement cell and develop low-field magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy diamond to improve the systematics of the EDM measurement. The same cryogenic system would be used to study thermally and dynamically polarized protons and deuterons at HIgS.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.