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Measurement of the Neutron Lifetime by Counting Trapped Protons |
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| Authors: | F E Wietfeldt M S Dewey D M Gilliam J S Nico X Fei W M Snow G L Greene J Pauwels R Eykens A Lamberty J Van Gestel |
| Affiliation: | Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118;National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899;Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47408;University of Tennessee/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Knoxville, TN 37996;European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, 2440 Geel, Belgium |
| Abstract: | We measured the neutron decay lifetime by counting in-beam neutron decay recoil protons trapped in a quasi-Penning trap. The absolute neutron beam fluence was measured by capture in a thin 6LiF foil detector with known efficiency. The combination of these measurements gives the neutron lifetime: τn = (886.8 ± 1.2 ± 3.2) s, where the first (second) uncertainty is statistical (systematic) in nature. This is the most precise neutron lifetime determination to date using an in-beam method. |
| Keywords: | neutron lifetime trapped protons |