Speaker
Description
Atomic tritium is a key enabling technology for the next-generation neutrino mass experiment Project 8. However, existing technology cannot supply the high required flow rate of millikelvin atoms, making new developments essential. I will describe design and simulation work underway at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) that links large-scale collisional gas simulations at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center with expertise from LBNL’s Superconducting Magnet Program. This combination is uniquely suited to address the peculiar challenges of atomic tritium. These include the highly energy-dependent collisional cross sections between tritium atoms and with helium buffer-gas atoms, and the replacement of low-temperature superconductors (LTS, around 4 K) with high-temperature superconductors (HTS, around 20 K) that have not previously been applied to trapping atomic hydrogen isotopes. This minimizes the required tritium inventory by reducing freeze-out while matching or exceeding the field strength and trapping efficiency of LTS magnets. An HTS magnetic guide pairs naturally with the tight integration of a buffer gas within a magnetic guide and the method to slow an atom beam with a bent, static magnetic guide that I proposed. Coupled with a long-standing program of atom source, surface cooling, and O(100 m^3) atom trap development in Project 8, the collaboration is thus paving the way to a complete atomic tritium apparatus with a sensitivity of 40 meV.
| Collaboration or Other Affiliation | Project 8 |
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