Experimental Search for Neutron to Mirror Neutron Oscillations as an Explanation of the Neutron Lifetime Anomaly

An unexplained >4σ discrepancy persists between "beam" and "bottle" measurements of the neutron lifetime. A new model proposed that conversions of neutrons n into mirror neutrons n^{'}, part of a dark mirror sector, can increase the apparent neutron lifetime by 1% via a small mass splitting Δm between n and n^{'} inside the 4.6 T magnetic field of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Beam Lifetime experiment. A search for neutron conversions in a 6.6 T magnetic field was performed at the Spallation Neutron Source which excludes this explanation for the neutron lifetime discrepancy.

Magnetic Field Control of Cycloidal Domains and Electric Polarization in Multiferroic BiFeO_{3}

The magnetic field induced rearrangement of the cycloidal spin structure in ferroelectric monodomain single crystals of the room-temperature multiferroic BiFeO_{3} is studied using small-angle neutron scattering. The cycloid propagation vectors are observed to rotate when magnetic fields applied perpendicular to the rhombohedral (polar) axis exceed a pinning threshold value of ∼5  T. In light of these experimental results, a phenomenological model is proposed that captures the rearrangement of the cycloidal domains, and we revisit the microscopic origin of the magnetoelectric effect. A new coupling between the magnetic anisotropy and the polarization is proposed that explains the recently discovered magnetoelectric polarization perpendicular to the rhombohedral axis.

Interaction driven subgap spin exciton in the Kondo insulator SmB6

Using inelastic neutron scattering, we map a 14 meV coherent resonant mode in the topological Kondo insulator SmB6 and describe its relation to the low energy insulating band structure. The resonant intensity is confined to the X and R high symmetry points, repeating outside the first Brillouin zone and dispersing less than 2 meV, with a 5d-like magnetic form factor. We present a slave-boson treatment of the Anderson Hamiltonian with a third neighbor dominated hybridized band structure. This approach produces a spin exciton below the charge gap with features that are consistent with the observed neutron scattering. We find that maxima in the wave vector dependence of the inelastic neutron scattering indicate band inversion.

A comparison of four direct geometry time-of-flight spectrometers at the Spallation Neutron Source

The Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory now hosts four direct geometry time-of-flight chopper spectrometers. These instruments cover a range of wave-vector and energy transfer space with varying degrees of neutron flux and resolution. The regions of reciprocal and energy space available to measure at these instruments are not exclusive and overlap significantly. We present a direct comparison of the capabilities of this instrumentation, conducted by data mining the instrument usage histories, and specific scanning regimes. In addition, one of the common science missions for these instruments is the study of magnetic excitations in condensed matter systems. We have measured the powder averaged spin wave spectra in one particular sample using each of these instruments, and use these data in our comparisons.

Persistence of metastable vortex lattice domains in MgB2 in the presence of vortex motion

Recently, extensive vortex lattice metastability was reported in MgB2 in connection with a second-order rotational phase transition. However, the mechanism responsible for these well-ordered metastable vortex lattice phases is not well understood. Using small-angle neutron scattering, we studied the vortex lattice in MgB2 as it was driven from a metastable to the ground state through a series of small changes in the applied magnetic field. Our results show that metastable vortex lattice domains persist in the presence of substantial vortex motion and directly demonstrate that the metastability is not due to vortex pinning. Instead, we propose that it is due to the jamming of counterrotated vortex lattice domains which prevents a rotation to the ground state orientation.

Observation of well-ordered metastable vortex lattice phases in superconducting MgB2 using small-angle neutron scattering

The vortex lattice (VL) symmetry and orientation in clean type-II superconductors depends sensitively on the host material anisotropy, vortex density and temperature, frequently leading to rich phase diagrams. Typically, a well-ordered VL is taken to imply a ground-state configuration for the vortex-vortex interaction. Using neutron scattering we studied the VL in MgB(2) for a number of field-temperature histories, discovering an unprecedented degree of metastability in connection with a known, second-order rotation transition. This allows, for the first time, structural studies of a well-ordered, nonequilibrium VL. While the mechanism responsible for the longevity of the metastable states is not resolved, we speculate it is due to a jamming of VL domains, preventing a rotation to the ground-state orientation.

Pauli paramagnetic effects on vortices in superconducting TmNi2B2C

The magnetic field distribution around the vortices in TmNi2B2C in the paramagnetic phase was studied experimentally as well as theoretically. The vortex form factor, measured by small-angle neutron scattering, is found to be field independent up to 0.6Hc2 followed by a sharp decrease at higher fields. The data are fitted well by solutions to the Eilenberger equations when paramagnetic effects due to the exchange interaction with the localized 4f Tm moments are included. The induced paramagnetic moments around the vortex cores act to maintain the field contrast probed by the form factor.

Field dependent coherence length in the superclean, high-kappa superconductor CeCoIn5

Using small-angle neutron scattering, we have studied the flux-line lattice (FLL) in the superclean, high-kappa superconductor CeCoIn5. The FLL undergoes a first-order symmetry and reorientation transition at approximately 0.55 T at 50 mK. In addition, the FLL form factor in this material is found to be independent of the applied magnetic field, in striking contrast to the exponential decrease usually observed in superconductors. This result is consistent with a strongly field-dependent coherence length, proportional to the vortex separation.