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Article: Measurement of the neutron lifetime by counting trapped protons.
- Article from:
- Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Article date:
- July 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 National Institute of Standards and Technology. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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We measured the neutron decay lifetime by counting in-beam neutron decay recoil protons trapped in a quasi-Penning trap. The absolute neutron beam fluence was measured by capture in a thin [.sup.6]LiF foil detector with known efficiency. The combination of these measurements gives the neutron lifetime: [[tau].sub.n] = (886.8 [+ or -] 1.2 [+ or -] 3.2) s, where the first (second) uncertainty is statistical (systematic) in nature. This is the most precise neutron lifetime determination to date using an in-beam method.
Key words: neutron lifetime; trapped protons.
1. Introduction and Discussion
As the simplest semi-leptonic decay system, the free ...