Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4586-6513

Date Available

12-13-2024

Year of Publication

2024

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College

Arts and Sciences

Department/School/Program

Physics and Astronomy

Advisor

Dr. Brad Plaster

Abstract

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) experiment is planning an increased precision measurement of the neutron’s permanent electric dipole moment. LANL nEDM expects to lower the statistical uncertainty to δdLANL = 2 × 10−27 e cm after a year of live-time, which puts a more stringent upper bound on the nEDM. This statistical uncertainty is an order of magnitude less than the current best measurement set by nEDM at PSI. To reach this goal, the LANL nEDM collaboration requires a simulation tool that can tackle optimization problems, investigate systematic effects, and provide mock data to standardize analysis methods to extract known truth values.

I created a complete source to detector simulation of the LANL nEDM experiment using a Monte Carlo simulation package called PENTrack. To create this toolkit for the collaboration, I performed simulations of magnetic fields using the finite-element- analysis tool COMSOL and developed the experimental geometry as CAD models. Each surface has its own material type defined, which governs how the neutrons inter- act with the surfaces. In this work, it is demonstrated how this simulation framework is deployable for the study of many different systematics, such as the geometric phase effect and those that arise when using a co-magnetometer. Details of how these simulations are used to provide truth data for a mock data challenge are discussed along with the results of this simulation milestone. Several optimization problems pertain- ing to timings which optimize the use of the beam time are presented. In addition, simulations were developed to optimize the settings for magnetic field coils to preserve the polarization of the neutrons during transport to the experiment. This simulation toolkit is accessible to the collaboration so that it can continue to be improved upon if any changes in the field environment or geometries are made. I conclude by outlining how this framework is prepared to consider additional studies pertaining to the LANL nEDM experiment.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2024.449

Funding Information

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics, under Award Number DE-SC0014622.

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