“Quantum Trapping of Cold Neutrons with Picosecond Precision" by Prof. Malik Maaza
When : Thursday March 27, 2025
16:00 CET (11:00 EDT) (Please note the daylight saving time adjustment in the USA).
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Prof. M. Maaza, UNESCO UNISA-ITLABS/NRF Africa Chair in Nanosciences & Nanotechnologies.
1UNESCO-UNISA-iThemba LABS/NRF Africa Chair in Nanosciences-Nanotechnology, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa, Muckleneuk ridge, PO Box 392, Pretoria, South Africa
Biography:
Prof. M. Maaza is the UNESCO UNISA-ITLABS/NRF Africa Chair in Nanosciences & Nanotechnologies. He is a joint staff of UNISA the NRF. His Hindex is 104 & i10 =504 with a total citations of 32 895. He is a fellow of various Academies, including the African Academy of Science, the European Academy of Arts & Sciences, the New York Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Science of India, the Islamic Academy of Sciences & the Royal Society of Chemistry-London.
• Prof. M. Maaza has been bestowed several awards among which; the 2018- A.U. Nkwame Nkrumah award for Excellence in Science & Technology, the 2019- Galileo-Galilei award by the International Commission for Optics, the 2022-J. Vasconcelos award for education by the World Cultural Council Hong Kong , 2024 International Khawarizmi award & the 2024 International Union for Pure & Applied Physics (IUPAP) award. He has been bestowed with the Presidential Mapungubwe Order of the Republic of South Africa.
• Prof. M. Maaza has been the architect behind several continental & National ongoing platforms including the UNESCO-UNISA-iTLABS/NRF Africa Chair in Nanosciences & Nanotechnologies. (U2ACN2) African Laser Centre (ALC), the African Materials Research Society (AMRS), the African Light Source (AfLS), the Nanosciences African Network (NANOAFNET), the National Laser Centre (NLC) among others including the recently implemented African Centre of Competencies in Enhanced Nanosciences & Nanotechnologies for SDGs (ACCENTS).
Abstract:
The neutron is singular as it is sensitive to the four fundamental interactions: strong, weak, electromagnetic, and gravitational. This multi-sensitivity makes neutron wave-matter optics a particularly versatile tool for testing quantum mechanics and fundamental physics concepts in general. The lifetime of a free neutron defined via its beta-decay ⟨τn⟩ is of a pivotal importance within the standard model & cosmology. Indeed, the precision on the neutron lifetime is paramount as it regulates the precision of the 1st element of the Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix, central to the standard model. The two major methods used to measure ⟨τn⟩ while trapping free neutrons, namely, the beam and the bottle methods give different neutron lifetime values; ⟨τn⟩Beam ∼ 888.0 ± 2.0 s , that obtained by the bottle technique is smaller; of about ⟨τn⟩Bottle ∼ 879.4 ± 0.6 s. In addition of the persistent difference of ∼10 s persists for years, even if the two methods have been modified to enhance the experimental accuracy. This latter was shown to be enhanced if one could trap cold neutrons in nanostructured Fabry-Perot resonators. Within this webinar, is discussed, the de Broglie wave-particle duality coupled to the Fermi total reflection phenomenon in addition to the tunneling & trapping of cold neutrons in such nano-resonating cavities, allow trapping times with a precision governed by the Heisenberg uncertainty of 10-12 s [1-2].
[1] M. Maaza, Journal of Neutron Research -1 (2023) 1–16 1 DOI 10.3233/JNR-220015
[2] Nano-structured Fabry-Pérot resonators in neutron optics & tunneling of neutron waveparticles, Maaza, M., Hamidi, D., Physics Reports 2012, 514(5), pp. 177–198
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