Search for n-n ¯ oscillation in Super-Kamiokande SEARCH FOR n-n ¯ OSCILLATION IN SUPER-⋯ K. ABE et al.

A search for neutron-antineutron (n-n¯) oscillation was undertaken in Super-Kamiokande using the 1489 live-day or 2.45×1034 neutron-year exposure data. This process violates both baryon and baryon minus lepton numbers by an absolute value of two units and is predicted by a large class of hypothetical models where the seesaw mechanism is incorporated to explain the observed tiny neutrino masses and the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the Universe. No evidence for n-n¯ oscillation was found; the lower limit of the lifetime for neutrons bound in O16, in an analysis that included all of the significant sources of experimental uncertainties, was determined to be 1.9×1032years at the 90% confidence level. The corresponding lower limit for the oscillation time of free neutrons was calculated to be 2.7×108s using a theoretical value of the nuclear suppression factor of 0.517×1023s-1 and its uncertainty