LTP: Laboratory for Particle Physics
Scientific Highlights and News
Jean-Baptiste Mosset winner of PSI Founder Fellowship
Jean-Baptiste Mosset from the Laboratory of Particle Physics is the winner of a PSI Founder Fellowship and plans now to commercialise a neutron detector to spot plutonium and uranium. With his new technology, less expensive and more efficient neutron detectors could be developed. In the next 18 months, Mosset wants to further develop his prototype and find out if demand for this technology exists in industry.
Search for Axionlike Dark Matter through Nuclear Spin Precession in Electric and Magnetic Fields
We report on a search for ultralow-mass axionlike dark matter by analyzing the ratio of the spin-precession frequencies of stored ultracold neutrons and 199Hg atoms for an axion-induced oscillating electric dipole moment of the neutron and an axion-wind spin-precession effect. No signal consistent with dark matter is observed for the axion mass range 10-24 ≤ ma ≤ 10-17eV.
Commissioning and first performance studies of the new CMS pixel detector
In the previous months the new CMS pixel detector was brought into operation. The detector was moved from PSI to CERN and installed in February, followed by an intensive period of commissioning and calibration. This process mostly involved the adjustment of many operational parameters which influence the detector performance, e.g.
The hard worker from Val Mesolcina
For Aldo Antognini, physics and conviviality are in the bloodPSI researcher Aldo Antognini has received more than 2.2 million Swiss francs from the EU for his latest experiment. He wants to find out how magnetism is distributed in the proton. The particle physicist will be able to apply not only his scientific and technical talents, but his social flair as well.
Comparison of ultracold neutron sources for fundamental physics measurements
Ultracold neutrons (UCNs) are key for precision studies of fundamental parameters of the neutron and in searches for new charge-parity-violating processes or exotic interactions beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. The most prominent example is the search for a permanent electric-dipole moment of the neutron (nEDM). We have performed an experimental comparison of the leading UCN sources currently operating.