UCN Physics Group

Fundamental experiments with ultracold neutrons

The primary goal of research with ultracold neutrons (UCN) of the UCN physics group is the discovery of physics beyond the Standard Model with its flagship experiment, the search for the electric dipole moment of the neutron (nEDM). The PSI-based international nEDM collaboration has set the best limit so-far. The new n2EDM apparatus with the goal to improve the sensitivity by at least a factor of ten is the world-leading effort in this field.  This is a result of the high UCN intensity at PSI, the record-performing magnetically shielded room, and the group's  high-precision magnetometry developments achieved in collaboration with our partner institutes.

In addition, our research group performs experiments searching for exotic particles which could be constituents of dark matter,  for example mirror neutrons, axions, or axion-like particles.

The UCN source at PSI is a world-leading facility. The group's detailed investigations of UCN production and transport have lead during the last years to a continuous improvement of the UCN intensity.