AWhat changed
Abel and colleagues searched for a permanent neutron electric dipole moment using ultracold neutrons and magnetic-field monitoring at the Paul Scherrer Institute. Two blinded analysis teams reported a result consistent with zero, dₙ = (0.0 ± 1.1 statistical ± 0.2 systematic) × 10⁻²⁶ e cm, corresponding to an upper limit of 1.8 × 10⁻²⁶ e cm at 90% confidence.
Scientific scope
Abel and colleagues searched for a permanent neutron electric dipole moment using ultracold neutrons and magnetic-field monitoring at the Paul Scherrer Institute. Two blinded analysis teams reported a result consistent with zero, dₙ = (0.0 ± 1.1 statistical ± 0.2 systematic) × 10⁻²⁶ e cm, corresponding to an upper limit of 1.8 × 10⁻²⁶ e cm at 90% confidence. The measurement is a finite-sensitivity null result, not a detection of a neutron electric dipole moment or a demonstration that it is exactly zero. The 2015–2016 data were analyzed with a mercury co-magnetometer and cesium magnetometer array; the reported value depends on magnetic-gradient corrections and estimated systematic errors. Two teams analyzed differently blinded versions of the same underlying data, not two independent experiments. Their midpoint forms the reported central value. The cited author manuscript lists 84 contributors. The raw data and separate calibration analyses require independent evaluation, and the final journal text may differ.
Evidence
The linked original works support the scoped statement and contribution attribution. WRS has not independently replayed experiments or reconstructed a full mathematical proof. The measurement is a finite-sensitivity null result, not a detection of a neutron electric dipole moment or a demonstration that it is exactly zero. The 2015–2016 data were analyzed with a mercury co-magnetometer and cesium magnetometer array; the reported value depends on magnetic-gradient corrections and estimated systematic errors. Two teams analyzed differently blinded versions of the same underlying data, not two independent experiments. Their midpoint forms the reported central value. The cited author manuscript lists 84 contributors. The raw data and separate calibration analyses require independent evaluation, and the final journal text may differ.
Contributors
- The named authors in the research record · SCIENCE: These are the listed authors of the cited contribution sources. Paper authorship does not quantify individual effort. An incomplete list is explicitly marked; same names are not automatically merged.
Provisional WRS assessment, edition 2026-10-28.1. Independent expert calibration is pending. This grade does not certify correctness or assign ownership.
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