https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-09888-x
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
Neutron interferometry, fifth force and axion like particles
1
Dipartimento di Fisica “E.R. Caianiello”, Università di Salerno, and INFN-Gruppo Collegato di Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084, Fisciano, SA, Italy
2
Institut Ruder Bošković, Bijenička cesta 54, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
Received:
31
August
2021
Accepted:
27
November
2021
Published online:
18
December
2021
We propose a new possible detection strategy to reveal the fermion–fermion interaction mediated by axions and axion-like particles, based on interferometric measurement of neutron beams. We consider an interferometer in which the neutron beam is split in two sub-beams propagating in regions with differently oriented magnetic fields. The beam paths and the strength of the magnetic fields are set in such a way that the phase difference depends only on the axion-induced interaction. The resulting phase difference is directly related to the presence of axions. Our results show that such a phase might represent, in the future, a tool to probe the existence of axions and axion-like particles or a fifth force with interferometry.
© The Author(s) 2021
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Funded by SCOAP3
