Experimental Search for Neutron to Mirror Neutron Oscillations as an Explanation of the Neutron Lifetime Anomaly

Despite continued improvements in precision, an unexplained $>4\,\sigma$ discrepancy persists between ``beam'' and ``bottle'' measurements of the neutron lifetime. A new model proposed that conversions of neutrons into mirror neutrons can increase the apparent neutron lifetime by $1\%$ via a small mass difference $\Delta{m}$ inside the $4.6\,T$ magnetic field of the Beam Lifetime experiment. A search for neutron conversions in a $6.6\,$T magnetic field was performed at the Spallation Neutron Source. This explanation for the neutron lifetime discrepancy has been excluded for $\Delta{m}\leq400\,$neV.