Measuring the Depolarization of Ultracold Neutrons

Abstract

Ultracold neutrons, or neutrons with energy of around 100neV, are useful in low energy fundamental physics experiments. In order for these experiments to be successful, the neutrons must be polarized, or be in a uniform spin state. The neutrons must travel from an origin to the location of the experiment, and along this path some of the neutrons depolarize through contact with the pipe walls. A solution to this problem is to create a weak ambient magnetic field along the path, but some residual depolarization is still present. In order to measure the depolarization and discern the reason for the residual depolarization, an experiment was conducted at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In order to confirm the results of the experiment, a computational model is being developed. This model will allow our data analysis of the experiment to be verified as correct. I will display this model in its current operational stage.