16.02.2009 —

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation, DFG) has accepted another application for the construction of an ultracold neutron source at the Research Center Garching – a project that the Excellence Cluster Universe provides significant support to. With a sum of 1.5 million euros, the DFG is sponsoring an apparatus for the liquefaction of helium. This liquid gas serves to generate frozen heavy hydrogen (deuterium) close to the reactor core. This enables the neutrons, which are also produced in the research reactor, to be cooled to very low energies of approx. 100 nanoelectron volts.

The particles then move at a velocity of only approx. 20 kilometers per hour, so that scientists can use them for experiments – for example, in order to determine their lifetime. This value plays a central role in the examination of how the first chemical elements in the universe originated.With the current promised sum, the DFG is providing funding for experiments on ultracold neutrons for the second time within only a few months. In October 2008, the research foundation approved 1.2 million euros for the assembly of a superconducting magnetic field arrangement.

The production start of the ultracold neutron source in the research reactor is planned for 2011. The Garching Research Center will then house one of the world’s most modern and effective production plants for these particles. The ultracold neutrons will also be used in other neutron experiments: One example is the measurement of the electric dipolmoment of the neutron. This electric charge distribution could also shed light on the symmetry breaking of matter and antimatter in the young universe. The research project is currently being realized in an international collaboration with participation of the TUM.