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    Dynamics of magnetic evaporative beamline cooling for the preparation of cold atomic beams

    A. Ashtari Esfahani1, S. Bhagvati2, S. Böser3, M. J. Brandsema4, R. Cabral5, V. A. Chirayath6, C. Claessens1, N. Coward6, L. de Viveiros2 et al. (Project 8 Collaboration)

    L. de Viveiros2, P. J. Doe1, M. G. Elliott6, S. Enomoto1, M. Fertl3, J. A. Formaggio7, B. T. Foust8, J. K. Gaison8, P. Harmston9, K. M. Heeger10, B. J. P. Jones6,*, E. Karim11, K. Kazkaz12, P. T. Kolbeck1, M. Li7, A. Lindman3, C.-Y. Liu9, C. Matthé3, R. Mohiuddin13, B. Monreal13, B. Mucogllava3, R. Mueller2, A. Negi6, J. A. Nikkel10, E. Novitski1, N. S. Oblath8, M. Oueslati5, J. I. Peña7, W. Pettus5, V. S. Ranatunga13, R. Reimann3, A. L. Reine5, R. G. H. Robertson1, L. Saldaña10, P. L. Slocum10, F. Spanier14, J. Stachurska15, K. Stogsdill6, Y.-H. Sun1, P. T. Surukuchi11, L. Taylor6, A. B. Telles10, F. Thomas3, L. A. Thorne3, T. Thümmler16, W. Van De Pontseele7, B. A. VanDevender1,8, T. E. Weiss10, M. Wynne1, and A. Ziegler2 (Project 8 Collaboration)

    • 1Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics and Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
    • 2Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
    • 3Institute for Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
    • 4Applied Research Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
    • 5Center for Exploration of Energy and Matter and Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, 47405, USA
    • 6Department of Physics, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019, USA
    • 7Laboratory for Nuclear Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
    • 8Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99354, USA
    • 9Department of Physics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
    • 10Wright Laboratory and Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
    • 11Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    • 12Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA
    • 13Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA
    • 14Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
    • 15Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
    • 16Institute of Astroparticle Physics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany

    • *Contact author: ben.jones@uta.edu

    Phys. Rev. A 112, 033311 – Published 11 September, 2025

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/7dkb-pc56

    Abstract

    The most sensitive direct neutrino mass searches today are based on measurement of the end point of the β spectrum of tritium to infer limits on the mass of the unobserved neutrino. To avoid the smearing associated with the distribution of molecular final states in the T-He molecule, the next generation of these experiments will need to employ atomic (T) rather than molecular (T2) tritium sources, at currents of at least 1015 atoms per second. Following production, atomic T can be trapped in gravitational and/or magnetic bottles for β spectrum experiments, if and only if it can first be cooled to millikelvin temperatures. Accomplishing this cooling presents substantial technological challenges. The Project 8 collaboration is developing a technique based on magnetic evaporative cooling along a beamline (MECB) for the purpose of cooling T to feed a magnetogravitational trap that also serves as a cyclotron radiation emission spectroscope. Initial tests of the approach are planned in a pathfinder apparatus using atomic Li. This paper presents a method for analyzing the dynamics of the MECB technique and applies these calculations to the design of systems for cooling and slowing of atomic Li and T. A scheme is outlined that could provide a current of T at the millikelvin temperatures required for the Project 8 neutrino mass search.

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