First Observation of 𝑃-odd 𝛾 Asymmetry in Polarized Neutron Capture on Hydrogen
Here, we report the first observation of the parity-violating gamma-ray asymmetry 𝐴$^{𝑛𝑝}_{𝛾}$ in neutron-proton capture using polarized cold neutrons incident on a liquid parahydrogen target at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 𝐴$^{𝑛𝑝}_{𝛾}$ isolates the Δ𝐼 =1, 3 𝑆 1 → 3 𝑃 1 component of the weak nucleon-nucleon interaction, which is dominated by pion exchange and can be directly related to a single coupling constant in either the DDH meson exchange model or pionless effective field theory. We measured 𝐴$^{𝑛𝑝}_{𝛾}$=[−3.0±1.4(stat)±0.2(syst)]×10 −8 , which implies a DDH weak 𝜋𝑁𝑁 coupling of ℎ$^1_𝜋$=[2.6±1.2(stat)±0.2(syst)]×10 −7 and a pionless EFT constant of 𝐶 3 𝑆 1 → 3 𝑃 1 /𝐶 0 =[−7.4±3.5(stat)±0.5(syst)]×10 −11 MeV −1 . We describe the experiment, data analysis, systematic uncertainties, and implications of the result.