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Journal of Physics Conference Series

New experimental limit on the Pauli exclusion principle violation by electrons (the VIP experiment)

Catalina Curceanu, Sergio Bartalucci, S. Bertolucci, M. Bragadireanu, M. Cargnelli, M. Catitti, S. Di Matteo, J.-P. Egger, C. Guaraldo, M. Iliescu, Tomoichi Ishiwatari, Matthias Laubenstein, Johann Marton, E. Milotti, Dorel Pietreanu, Titus Ponta, Antonio Romero Vidal, D. L. Sirghi, Florin Catalin Sirghi, Luciano Sperandio, O. Vázquez Doce, E. Widmann, Johann Zmeskal

Published Jun 1, 2009• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The Pauli exclusion principle (PEP) represents one of the basic principles of the modern physics. Even if there are no compelling reasons to doubt its validity, it still spurs a lively debate, because an intuitive, elementary explanation is still missing, and because of its unique stand among the basic symmetries of physics. A new limit on the probability that PEP is violated by electrons was estabilished by the VIP (VIolation of the Pauli exclusion principle) Collaboration, using the method of searching for PEP forbidden atomic transitions in copper. The preliminary value, ½ β 2 <6 × 10 -29 , represents an improvement of more than two orders of magnitude of the previous limit. The goal of VIP is to push this limit at the level of 10 -30 .

DOI
10.1088/1742-6596/171/1/012031

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The Pauli exclusion principle (PEP) represents one of the basic principles of the modern physics. Even if there are no compelling reasons to doubt its validity, it still spurs a lively debate, because an intuitive, elementary explanation is still missing, and because of its unique stand among the basic symmetries of physics. A new limit on the probability that PEP is violated by electrons was estabilished by the VIP (VIolation of the Pauli exclusion principle) Collaboration, using the method of searching for PEP forbidden atomic transitions in copper. The preliminary value, ½ β 2 <6 × 10 -29 , represents an improvement of more than two orders of magnitude of the previous limit. The goal of VIP is to push this limit at the level of 10 -30 .
The Pauli exclusion principle (PEP) represents one of the basic principles of modern physics and, even if there are no compelling reasons to doubt its validity, it still spurs a lively debate, because an intuitive, elementary explanation is still missing, and because of its unique stand among the basic symmetries of physics. A new limit on the probability that PEP is violated by electrons was estabilished by the VIP (Violation of the Pauli exclusion principle) Collaboration, using the method of searching for PEP forbidden atomic transitions in copper. The preliminary value, 1/2β 2 < 4.5 × 10 −28 , represents an improvement of about two orders of magnitude of the previous limit. The goal of VIP is to push this limit at the level of 10 −30 .
The Pauli exclusion principle (PEP) is one of the basic principles of modern physics and, even if there are no compelling reasons to doubt its validity, it is still debated today because an intuitive, elementary explanation is still missing, and because of its unique stand among the basic symmetries of physics. A new limit on the probability that PEP is violated by electrons, was estabilished by the VIP (VIolation of the Pauli exclusion principle) Collaboration. The obtained value 12β2 < 4.5 × 10−28 is an improvement of about two orders of magnitude of the previous existing limit.
The Pauli Exclusion Principle (PEP) represents one of the fundamental principles of the modern physics and our comprehension of the surrounding matter is based on it. Even if today there are no compelling reasons to doubt its validity, it still spurs a lively debate on its limits, as testified by the abundant contributions found in the literature and in topical conferences. We present a method of searching for possible small violations of PEP for electrons, through the search for "anomalous" X-ray transitions in copper atoms, produced by "fresh" electrons which can decay in a Pauli-forbidden transition to the 1s level, already occupied by two electrons. The VIP Experiment has the scientific goal to improve by four orders of magnitude the present limit on the probability of PEP violation for electrons, bringing it into the 10-30–10-31 region. Preliminary results, together with future plans, are presented.
The Pauli Exclusion Principle (PEP) is one of the basic principles of modern physics and, even if there are no compelling reasons to doubt its validity, it is still debated today because an intuitive, elementary explanation is still missing, and because of its unique stand among the basic symmetries of physics. We present an experimental test of the validity of the Pauli Exclusion Principle for electrons based on a straightforward idea put forward a few years ago by Ramberg and Snow (E. Ramberg and G. A. Snow 1990 Phys. Lett. B 238 438). We performed a very accurate search of X‐rays from the Pauli‐forbidden atomic transitions of electrons in the already filled 1S shells of copper atoms. Although the experiment has a very simple structure, it poses deep conceptual and interpretational problems. Here we describe the experimental method and recent experimental results interpreted as an upper limit for the probability to violate the Pauli Exclusion Principle. We also present future plans to upgrade the experimental apparatus.
The Pauli exclusion principle (PEP) is one of the basic principles of modern physics and, even if there are no compelling reasons to doubt its validity, it is still debated today because an intuitive, elementary explanation is still missing, and because of its unique stand among the basic symmetries of physics. The present Letter reports a new limit on the probability that PEP is violated by electrons, in a search for an anomalous K α line in copper: the presence of this line in the soft X-ray copper fluorescence would signal a transition to a ground state already occupied by 2 electrons. The obtained value, 1 2 β 2 ⩽ 4.5 × 10 −28 , improves the existing limit by almost two orders of magnitude.
The Pauli exclusion principle (PEP) is one of the basic principles of modern physics. Being at the very basis of our understanding of matter, as many other fundamental principles it spurs, presently, a lively debate on its possible limits, deeply rooted in the very foundations of Quantum Field Theory. Therefore, it is extremely important to test the limits of its validity. Quon theory provides a suitable mathematical framework of possible violation of PEP, where the violation parameter q translates into a probability of violating PEP. Experimentally, setting a bound on PEP violation means confining the violation parameter to a value very close to either 1 (for bosons) or -1 (for fermions). The VIP (VIolation of the Pauli exclusion principle) experiment established a limit on the probability that PEP is violated by electrons, using the method of searching for PEP forbidden atomic transitions in copper. We describe the experimental method, the obtained results, both in terms of the q-parameter from quon theory and as probability of PEP violation, we briefly discuss them and present future plans to go beyond the actual limit by upgrading the experimental technique using vetoed new spectroscopical fast Silicon Drift Detectors. We also shortly mention the possibility of using a similar experimental technique to search for eventual X-rays, generated in the spontaneous collapse models.