Jake Thorne Email & Phone Number

Our group is currently playing a leading role in the construction of the next generation n2EDM experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute, aiming for an order of magnitude improvement in the measurement of the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM).The electric dipole moment of the neutron is among the most sensitive probes of CP violating physics beyond the standard model, with a proud history of experimental measurements dating back to 1951. One of the three critical conditions proposed by Sakharov to explain the observed dominance of matter over antimatter in our universe is CP violation: physics must contain some asymmetry between the behaviour of matter and antimatter. The only observed CP violation arises from the complex phase in the CKM matrix, however this has been shown to be far too small to explain the matter-antimatter asymmetry. New physics theories naturally introduce new sources of CP violation to help explain this phenomenon, but this sources typically result in large electric dipole moments of the neutron and other particles. By measuring the neutron electric dipole moment, we are able to constrain this new physics.

The Fundamental Neutron and Precision Physics Group of Prof. Florian Piegsa develops new experiments and scientific methods in the laboratories at the University of Bern and performs measurements at international neutron research facilities.We are using cold and ultracold neutrons to investigate the fundamental properties of the neutron itself. Hereby, we employ highly sensitive devices and installations in order to search for signals of new physics beyond the standard model of particle physics.Currently, we are involved in three low-energy neutron particle physics experiments - two of them have the goal to search for a neutron electric dipole moment (EDM) and the third one intends to measure the neutron electric charge. In addition, in a separate project we are searching for new exotic interactions using proton NMR.

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Physics

Msci, Physics, 2:1