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High sensitivity test of the Pauli exclusion principle

Johann Marton, M. Cargnelli, Tomoichi Ishiwatari, E. Widmann, Johann Zmeskal

Published Jul 1, 2007• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Full text: The Pauli Exclusion Principle (PEP) represents one of the fundamental principles of modern physics and much of our comprehension of the matter is based on it. There are no compelling reasons to doubt its validity, but a lively debate on its limits is going on, due to the lack of an explanation based on fundamental principles. One possible experiment is to measure the violation of PEP with electrons. The experimental method consists of introducing new electrons into a copper strip and to look for x-rays resulting from the 2p {yields} 1s anomalous x-rays transitions emitted if one of the new electrons would be captured by a copper atom and cascades down to the 1s state already filled with two electrons of opposite spin. The goal of the VIP experiment is to lower the present limit on the probability that PEP is violated by electrons, obtained by Ramberg and Snow (limit {<=} 1.7 x 10{sup -26}) by about 4 orders of magnitude. To minimize the background the measurement will be performed in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory. Preliminary measurements were already performed. Presently the experiment is collecting data in Gran Sasso. The limit of PEP violation was already improved by two orders of magnitude. The results will be presented and the physics case discussed. (author)

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Full text: The Pauli Exclusion Principle (PEP) represents one of the fundamental principles of modern physics and much of our comprehension of the matter is based on it. There are no compelling reasons to doubt its validity, but a lively debate on its limits is going on, due to the lack of an explanation based on fundamental principles. One possible experiment is to measure the violation of PEP with electrons. The experimental method consists of introducing new electrons into a copper strip and to look for x-rays resulting from the 2p {yields} 1s anomalous x-rays transitions emitted if one of the new electrons would be captured by a copper atom and cascades down to the 1s state already filled with two electrons of opposite spin. The goal of the VIP experiment is to lower the present limit on the probability that PEP is violated by electrons, obtained by Ramberg and Snow (limit {<=} 1.7 x 10{sup -26}) by about 4 orders of magnitude. To minimize the background the measurement will be performed in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory. Preliminary measurements were already performed. Presently the experiment is collecting data in Gran Sasso. The limit of PEP violation was already improved by two orders of magnitude. The results will be presented and the physics case discussed. (author)
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) was famously discovered in 1925 by the austrian physicist Wolfgang Pauli. Since then, it underwent several experimental tests. Starting in 2006, the VIP (Violation of the Pauli Principle) experiment looked for 2p to 1s X-ray transitions in copper, where 2 electrons are present in the 1s state before the transition happens. These transitions violate the PEP, and the lack of detection of the corresponding X-ray photons lead to a preliminary upper limit for the violation of the PEP of 4.7 * 10^(-29). The follow-up experiment VIP 2 is currently in the testing phase and will be transported to its final destination, the underground laboratory of Gran Sasso in Italy, in autumn 2015. Several improvements compared to its predecessor like the use of new X-ray detectors and active shielding from background gives rise to a goal for the improvement of the upper limit of the probability for the violation of the Pauli Exclusion Principle of 2 orders of magnitude.
The Pauli Exclusion Principle (PEP) was famously discovered in 1925 by the austrian physicist Wolfgang Pauli. Since then, it underwent several experimental tests. Starting in 2006, the VIP (Violation of the Pauli Principle) experiment looked for 2p to 1s X-ray transitions in copper, where 2 electrons are present in the 1s state before the transition happens. These transitions violate the PEP, and the lack of detection of the corresponding X-ray photons lead to a preliminary upper limit for the violation of the PEP of 4.7 * 10^(-29). The follow-up experiment VIP 2 is currently in the testing phase and will be transported to its final destination, the underground laboratory of Gran Sasso in Italy, in autumn 2015. Several improvements compared to its predecessor like the use of new X-ray detectors and active shielding from background gives rise to a goal for the improvement of the upper limit of the probability for the violation of the Pauli Exclusion Principle of 2 orders of magnitude.
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 is one of the most fundamental rules of nature and represents a pillar of modern physics. According to many observations the Pauli Exclusion Principle must be extremely well fulfilled. Nevertheless, numerous experimental investigations were performed to search for a small violation of this principle. The VIP experiment at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory searched for Pauli-forbidden X-ray transitions in copper atoms using the Ramberg-Snow method and obtained the best limit so far. The follow-up experiment VIP2 is designed to reach even higher sensitivity. It aims to improve the limit by VIP by orders of magnitude. The experimental method, comparison of different PEP tests based on different assumptions and the developments for VIP2 are presented.
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 .