Probing Dark Energy Models with Bouncing Ultracold Neutrons
Guillaume Pignol
LPSC Grenoble
Mercredi 12/06/2013, 14:15
Salle Claude Itzykson, Bât. 774, Orme des Merisiers
The accelerating expansion of the universe has been recently discovered and confirmed. It is one of the most puzzling observation of modern cosmology: 70% of the energy budget of the universe today has to be attributed to a completely unknown type of "Dark Energy". One theoretical route to address this problem is to assume the existence of a cosmological scalar field, the quintessence, with nontrivial dynamics. If this quintessence field is coupled to ordinary matter particles, it would also mediate a fifth fundamental force displaying very unusual "chameleon like" properties. par I will discuss how to probe such a force using bouncing ultracold neutrons. A neutron bouncing above a surface could display quantum properties: the energy of the vertical motion is quantized, with energy levels of the order of $10^{-12}$ eV. The new GRANIT instrument, being commissioned at the Institut Laue Langevin in Grenoble, will measure the spectrum of this quantum system. The chameleon interaction between the mirror and the neutron could shift the energy spectrum, that could be seen by the coming measurements with GRANIT.
Contact : ccaprini

 

Retour en haut