A New Constraint for the Coupling of Axion-like particles to Matter via Ultra-Cold Neutron Gravitational Experiments

We present a new constraint for the axion monopole-dipole coupling in the range of 1 micrometer to a few millimeters, previously unavailable for experimental study. The constraint was obtained using our recent results on the observation of neutron quantum states in the Earth's gravitational field. We exploit the ultimate sensitivity of ultra-cold neutrons (UCN) in the lowest gravitational states above a material surface to any additional interaction between the UCN and the matter, if the characteristic interaction range is within the mentioned domain. In particular, we find that the upper limit for the axion monopole-dipole coupling constant is (g_p g_s)/(\hbar c)