Incorporated into every aspect of everyday life, the neutron is a fundamental particle of nature. Now, a research collaboration led by Los Alamos National Laboratory has improved the precision of free neutron lifetime measurements. The team’s results highlight the success of the UCNTau experiment’s design and previews the effectiveness of new techniques and approaches that the team is incorporating into the next generation of the experiment.

“The precise lifetime of free neutrons is at the center of still-contested physics questions,” said Steven Clayton, physicist at Los Alamos. “Understanding the neutron lifetime can be used to test the nature of the weak force, one of the fundamental forces of the universe, and can also help search for physics beyond the Standard Model.

Our results here validate the UCNtau experimental approach and point the way toward design improvements that will further enhance our understanding of the physics involved.