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We highlight the progress, current status, and open challenges of QCD-driven physics, in theory and in experiment. We discuss how the strong interaction is intimately connected to a broad sweep of physical problems, in settings ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to strongly coupled, complex systems in particle and condensed-matter physics, as well as to searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. We also discuss how success in describing the strong interaction impacts other fields, and, in turn, how such subjects can impact studies of the strong interaction. In the course of the work we offer a perspective on the many research streams which flow into and out of QCD, as well as a vision for future developments.

The development of qualitatively new measurement capabilities is often a prerequisite for critical scientific and technological advances. Here we introduce an unconventional quantum probe, an entangled neutron beam, where individual neutrons can be entangled in spin, trajectory and energy. The spatial separation of trajectories from nanometers to microns and energy differences from peV to neV will enable investigations of microscopic magnetic correlations in systems with strongly entangled phases, such as those believed to emerge in unconventional superconductors. We develop an interferometer to prove entanglement of these distinguishable properties of the neutron beam by observing clear violations of both Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt and Mermin contextuality inequalities in the same experimental setup. Our work opens a pathway to a future of entangled neutron scattering in matter. Exploring correlations in strongly entangled quantum materials is of interest. Here the authors generate a tunable spin-, trajectory-, and energy-entangled neutron beam using a neutron spin-echo interferometer and show violations of Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt and Mermin contextuality inequalities with micron-scale trajectory separation.

In this report, we will give the first constraints on in-matter nonmetricity. We will show how the effective-field-theory (EFT) toolbox developed for the study of Lorentz violation (LV) can be employed for investigations of the \"effective LV\" background caused by nonmetricity, a geometric object extending the notion of a Riemannian manifold. The idea is to probe for the effects of spacetime nonmetricity sourced by liquid 4He with polarized slow neutrons. We present the first constraints on isotropic and parity-odd nonmetricity components. Further constraints on anisotropic nonmetricity components within this EFT framework may be feasible with proper experimental techniques in the near future.

The weak interaction between nucleons remains one of the most poorly-understood sectors of the Standard Model. A quantitative description of this interaction is needed to understand weak interaction phenomena in atomic, nuclear, and hadronic systems. This paper summarizes briefly what is known about the weak nucleon-nucleon interaction, tries to place this phenomenon in the context of other studies of the weak and strong interactions, and outlines a set of measurements involving low energy neutrons which can lead to significant experimental progress.

The physical origin of the dark energy, which is postulated to cause the accelerated expansion rate of the universe, is one of the major open questions of cosmology. A large subset of theories postulate the existence of a scalar field with a nonlinear coupling to matter chosen so that the effective range and/or strength of the field is greatly suppressed unless the source is placed in vacuum. We describe a measurement using neutron interferometry which can place a stringent upper bound on chameleon fields proposed as a solution to the problem of the origin of dark energy of the universe in the regime with a strongly-nolinear coupling term. In combination with other experiments searching for exotic short-range forces and laser-based measurements, slow neutron experiments are capable of eliminating this and many similar types of scalar-field-based dark energy models by laboratory experiments.

An observation of neutron-antineutron oscillations ( n - n ¯), which violate both B and B - L by 2 units, would constitute a fundamental discovery and contribute to our understanding of the baryon asymmetry of the universe. A sufficiently stringent upper constraint on this process would also make a major contribution by ruling out the possibility of post-sphaleron baryogenesis (PSB) involving first-generation quarks, which would mean that sphaleron transitions at the electroweak scale are essential for baryogenesis within the Sakharov paradigm. We show that one can design an experiment with free n using existing or projected neutron sources that can reach the sensitivity needed to rule out PSB if one allows the n and n¯, with sufficiently small tangential velocity, to coherently reflect from n / n ¯ mirrors composed of certain nuclei. We show that the sensitivity of a future experiment can be greatly improved, and a more compact and less expensive apparatus can be realized. A sensitivity gain of ~ 10 4 in the oscillation probability relative to the existing free- n limit can be reached if one is willing to adopt a long flight path with a horizontal guide viewing a cold neutron source, or a significantly shorter flight path with a vertical guide viewing a very cold neutron source.

The neutron spin rotation (NSR) collaboration used parity-violating spin rotation of transversely polarized neutrons transmitted through a 0.5 m liquid helium target to constrain weak coupling constants between nucleons. While consistent with theoretical expectation, the upper limit set by this measurement on the rotation angle is limited by statistical uncertainties. The NSR collaboration is preparing a new measurement to improve this statistically-limited result by about an order of magnitude. In addition to using the new high-flux NG-C beam at the NIST Center for Neutron Research, the apparatus was upgraded to take advantage of the larger-area and more divergent NG-C beam. Significant improvements are also being made to the cryogenic design. Details of these improvements and readiness of the upgraded apparatus are presented. We also comment on how recent theoretical work combining effective field theory techniques with the 1/ N c expansion of QCD along with previous NN weak measurements can be used to make a prediction for d ϕ/ dz in 4 He. An experiment using the same apparatus with a room-temperature target was carried out at LANSCE to place limits on parity-conserving rotations from possible fifth-force interactions to complement previous studies. We sought this interaction using a slow neutron polarimeter that passed transversely polarized slow neutrons by unpolarized slabs of material arranged so that this interaction would tilt the plane of polarization and develop a component along the neutron momentum. The results of this measurement and its impact on the neutron-matter coupling g A 2 from such an interaction are presented. The NSR collaboration is also preparing a new measurement that uses an upgraded version of the room-temperature target to be run on the NG-C beamline; and it is expected to constrain g A 2 by at least two additional orders of magnitude for λ c between 1 cm and 1 μm.

High precision fundamental neutron physics experiments have been proposed for the intense pulsed spallation neutron beams at JSNS, LANSCE, and SNS to test the standard model and search for new physics. Certain systematic effects in some of these experiments have to be controlled at the few ppb level. The NPDGamma experiment, a search for the small parity-violating γ -ray asymmetry Aγ in polarized cold neutron capture on parahydrogen, is one example. For the NPDGamma experiment we developed a radio-frequency resonant spin rotator to reverse the neutron polarization in a 9.5cm×9.5cm pulsed cold neutron beam with high efficiency over a broad cold neutron energy range. The effect of the spin reversal by the rotator on the neutron beam phase space is compared qualitatively to rf neutron spin flippers based on adiabatic fast passage. We discuss the design of the spin rotator and describe two types of transmission-based neutron spin-flip efficiency measurements where the neutron beam was both polarized and analyzed by optically polarized He3 neutron spin filters. The efficiency of the spin rotator was measured at LANSCE to be 98.8±0.5% for neutron energies from 3 to 20 meV over the full phase space of the beam. Systematic effects that the rf spin rotator introduces to the NPDGamma experiment are considered.

High-intensity neutron beams, such as those available at the European Spallation Source (ESS), provide new opportunities for fundamental discoveries. Here we discuss a novel Ramsey neutron-beam experiment to search for ultralight axion dark matter through its coupling to neutron spins, which would cause the neutron spins to rotate about the velocity of the neutrons relative to the dark matter halo. We estimate that experiments at the HIBEAM beamline at the ESS can improve the sensitivity to the axion-neutron coupling compared to the current best laboratory limits by up to \\(2-3\\) orders of magnitude over the axion mass range \\(10^{-22} \\, \\textrm{eV} - 10^{-16}\\) eV.

A new pulsed neutron source is under construction at the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility (IUCF). Neutrons are produced via (p,n) reactions by a low-energy proton beam incident on a thin beryllium target. The source is tightly coupled to a cold methane moderator held at a temperature of 20 K or below. The resulting time-averaged cold neutron flux is expected to be comparable to that of the Intense Pulsed Neutron Source (IPNS) facility at Argonne National Laboratory. The initial experimental suite will include instrumentation for small angle neutron scattering (SANS), moderator studies, radiography, and zero-field spin-echo SANS.