Abstract
We consider the possibility of neutron-antineutron (n-n) conversion, in which the change of a neutron into an antineutron is mediated by an external source, as can occur in a scattering process. We develop the connections between n-n conversion and n-n oscillation, in which a neutron spontaneously transforms into an antineutron, noting that if n-n oscillation occurs in a theory with baryon number minus lepton number (B-L) violation, then n-n conversion can occur also. We show how an experimental limit on n-n conversion could connect concretely to a limit on n-n oscillation, and vice versa, using effective field theory techniques and baryon matrix elements computed in the MIT bag model.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 054023 |
| Journal | Physical Review D |
| Volume | 97 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 1 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank E. Aschenauer and T. Peitzmann for discussions and I. Helenius for useful comparisons. H. M. is supported under DOE Award No. DE-SC0012704. H. M. thanks the University of Jyväskylä for hospitality and the Emil Aaltonen Foundation for supporting his travel to collaborate with the University of Jyväskylä group. The work of T. L. and B. D. has been supported by the Academy of Finland, Grants No. 267321 and No. 303756, and by the European Research Council, Grant No. ERC-2015-CoG-681707.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 authors.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Nuclear and High Energy Physics