Ultracold Neutron Energy Spectrum and Storage Properties from Magnetically Induced Spin Depolarization
Journal
Physical Review Letters
Journal Volume
136
Journal Issue
22
Start Page
221902
ISSN
0031-9007
1079-7114
Date Issued
2026-06-05
Author(s)
Abstract
We present a novel method for extracting the energy spectrum of ultracold neutrons from magnetically induced spin depolarization measurements using the n2EDM apparatus. This method is also used to exploit sensitivity to the storage properties of the materials used to trap ultracold neutrons, specifically, whether collisions are specular or diffuse. To do so, we utilize tomat simulation to map storage properties to correlation times of the ultracold neutrons to induced magnetic nonuniformities. We highlight the sensitivity of this new technique by comparing the two different storage chambers of the n2EDM experiment, which host different ultracold neutron energy spectra. This method should prove to be invaluable to assess systematic effects in experiments utilizing spin-polarized systems with precise magnetic control and long spin-spin coherence time relative to the observation time, such as neutron electric dipole moment and neutron lifetime experiments worldwide.
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Type
journal article