Neutron's Dark Secret

by Bartosz Fornal (University of Utah, Department of Physics & Astronomy)

Friday 29 Jan 2021, 16:00 → 18:00 Europe/Rome

The neutron is one of the most important constituents of matter. It is absolutely crucial for the existence of atoms heavier than hydrogen. Surprisingly, the precise value of the free neutron lifetime is still an open question, with two types of experiments (bottle and beam measurements) providing substantially different answers. I will describe the recently proposed interpretation of this discrepancy as a sign of neutron decaying to dark particles, and show that phenomenologically consistent models of this type can be constructed. I will also elaborate on the theoretical developments around this idea and discuss the efforts undertaken to verify it experimentally.

 

Topic: Seminar_ Fornal

Time: Jan 29, 2021 04:00 PM Rome

 Join Zoom Meeting

https://uniroma1.zoom.us/j/81394115154?pwd=WG96c3MvL2NNc04wclV6cE4xa2dadz09

 Meeting ID: 813 9411 5154

Passcode: 761491