Welcome to the ultra-cold neutron facility at the research reactor TRIGA Mainz.

 

 

The research subject of our group is the physics with ultra-cold neutrons (UCN). Such neutrons have velocities below 10 m/s. Due to their low kinetic energy, they can be stored in traps for over hundreds of seconds. This allows to study the fundamental properties of the neutron like its lifetime or a non-zero electric dipole moment.         There are currently three main fields on which our work is focused: 1) the development and operation of intensive sources for ultra-cold neutrons at the reactor TRIGA Mainz, 2) the perfomance of UCN experiments at these sources and 3) the participation in an international collaboration aiming to search for a non-zero electric dipole moment of the neutron.  

Our research is strongly experimental oriented. The development of the UCN source at beamport C of the TRIGA reactor was carried out in a collaboration with the UCN group from the Technical University of Munich. Since 2006 a new UCN source was installed at beamport D in a collaboration between the departments of physics and nuclear chemistry at the University of Mainz. The new source at beamport D will be put into operation in 2010. 

Experiments with ultra-cold neutrons are mainly related to questions of astro-particle physics like the domination of matter over antimatter in our Universe or the genesis of the lightest elements in the so-called primordial nucleosynthesis directly after the Big Bang.

With the upcoming UCN sources at TRIGA Mainz, a new field of research will open in the coming years in Mainz. Therefore we are looking for the support of young diploma and PhD students with interest in fundamental neutron and astro-particle physics. 

In case you have any questions concerning our work or our open positions, please feel free to contact us.