New Experimental Limit on the Electric Dipole Moment of the Neutron

P. G. Harris; C. A. Baker; K. Green; P. Iaydjiev; S. Ivanov; D. J. R. May; J. M. Pendlebury; D. Shiers; K. F. Smith; M. van der Grinten; P. Geltenbort

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.904

New Experimental Limit on the Electric Dipole Moment of the Neutron

P. G. Harris, C. A. Baker, K. Green, P. Iaydjiev, S. Ivanov, D. J. R. May, J. M. Pendlebury, D. Shiers, K. F. Smith, M. van der Grinten, and P. Geltenbort

Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 904 – Published 1 February 1999

Abstract

The latest neutron electric dipole moment (EDM) experiment has been collecting data at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), Grenoble, since 1996. It uses an atomic-mercury magnetometer to compensate for the magnetic field fluctuations that were the principal source of systematic errors in previous experiments. The first results, in combination with the previous ILL measurement, yield a possible range of values of $(- 7.0 < d_{n} < 5.0) \times 10^{- 26} e cm$ ( $90 %$ C.L.). This may be interpreted as an upper limit on the absolute value of the neutron EDM of $| d_{n} | < 6.3 \times 10^{- 26} e cm$ ( $90 %$ C.L.).

Received 17 September 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.904

Authors & Affiliations

P. G. Harris^*, C. A. Baker, K. Green, P. Iaydjiev^†, and S. Ivanov^‡

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0QX, United Kingdom

D. J. R. May, J. M. Pendlebury, D. Shiers, K. F. Smith, and M. van der Grinten

University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QJ, United Kingdom

P. Geltenbort

Institut Laue-Langevin, BP 156, F-38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France

^*Currently on leave of absence from the University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QJ, United Kingdom.
^†Currently on leave of absence from Institute of Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Sofia, Bulgaria.
^‡Currently on leave of absence from St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia.