The electric dipole moment (EDM) of the neutron is a quantity which would violate the fundamental symmetries of space and time. As such searches for the neutron EDM take a prominent place in experimental particle physics.
Experiments to measure the neutron EDM have been carried out by the Rutherford Appleton Lab and the University of Sussex at the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble (France) and set the tightest limit ever on the magnitude of the neutron EDM using a room temperature experiment.
The nEDM experiment used at the ILL-Grenoble has been upgraded and moved to the Paul Sherrer Institute (Switzerland) where it is currently operating. At ILL-Grenoble a new neutron EDM experiment, PanEDM, is being developed using cryogenic techniques such as a super-thermal ultra-cold neutron source. Operating a neutron EDM experiment under cryogenic conditions will allow improving the parameters that define the experiment's sensitivity significantly. The RAL group is involved in this new venture that aims to perform a cryogenic neutron EDM measurement in a staged way.
Part of the experiment that set the neutron EDM limit at the ILL - Grenoble
