A Program of Fundamental Symmetry Tests with Neutrons at the University of Kentucky

This grant supports the University of Kentucky''s contributions to fundamental symmetries experiments with neutrons. Searches for the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) probe beyond-Standard Model sources of CP-violating physics. The discovery of a non-zero nEDM would be revolutionary to physics, as the physics underlying a non-zero nEDM is coupled to the physics mechanism responsible for the preponderance of matter over antimatter in the universe. Our group has leading roles in two nEDM experiments under development: the worldleading- sensitivity experiment at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the intermediate-step-sensitivity experiment at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Precision measurements of neutron beta-decay angular correlations and the neutron lifetime probe the limits of the V-A symmetries underlying the Standard Model and determine fundamental properties of the weak interaction. Finally, precision measurements of hadronic parity- and time-violation in neutron reactions with nuclear targets probe the weak quark-quark interaction.