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Space-based measurement of the neutron lifetime using data from the neutron spectrometer on NASA's MESSENGER mission

Wilson, Jack T.; Lawrence, David J.; Peplowski, Patrick N.; Eke, Vincent R.; Kegerreis, Jacob A.

Space-based measurement of the neutron lifetime using data from the neutron spectrometer on NASA's MESSENGER mission Thumbnail


Authors

Jack T. Wilson

David J. Lawrence

Patrick N. Peplowski



Abstract

We establish the feasibility of measuring the neutron lifetime via an alternative, space-based class of methods, which use neutrons generated by galactic cosmic ray spallation of planets surfaces and atmospheres. Free neutrons decay via the weak interaction with a mean lifetime of around 880 s. This lifetime constrains the unitarity of the CKM matrix and is a key parameter for studies of Big-Bang nucleosynthesis. However, current laboratory measurements, using two independent approaches, differ by over 4σ. Using data acquired in 2007 and 2008 during flybys of Venus and Mercury by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft, which was not designed to make this measurement, we estimate the neutron lifetime to be 780 ± 60stat ± 70syst s, thereby demonstrating the viability of this new approach.

Citation

Wilson, J. T., Lawrence, D. J., Peplowski, P. N., Eke, V. R., & Kegerreis, J. A. (2020). Space-based measurement of the neutron lifetime using data from the neutron spectrometer on NASA's MESSENGER mission. Physical Review Research, 2(2), Article 023316. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevresearch.2.023316

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 6, 2020
Online Publication Date Jun 11, 2020
Publication Date 2020-06
Deposit Date Jun 12, 2020
Publicly Available Date Jun 12, 2020
Journal Physical Review Research
Publisher American Physical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 2
Issue 2
Article Number 023316
DOI https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevresearch.2.023316

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.





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