Experimental search for the violation of Pauli Exclusion Principle

TL;DR

The VIP-2 experiment at Gran Sasso searches for potential violations of the Pauli Exclusion Principle by detecting forbidden x-ray transitions in copper, setting a new upper limit on violation probability.

Contribution

This study introduces a new analysis method with simultaneous spectral fitting to better account for systematic errors in testing Pauli principle violations.

Findings

Upper limit of 3.4 × 10^{-29} for violation probability

Improved control of experimental systematics

Enhanced analysis technique with spectral fitting

Abstract

The VIolation of Pauli exclusion principle -2 experiment, or VIP-2 experiment, at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso searches for x-rays from copper atomic transition that are prohibited by the Pauli Exclusion Principle. Candidate direct violation events come from the transition of a $2p$ electron to the ground state that is already occupied by two electrons. From the first data taking campaign in 2016 of VIP-2 experiment, we determined a best upper limit of 3.4 $\times$ 10$^{-29}$ for the probability that such a violation exists. Significant improvement in the control of the experimental systematics was also achieved, although not explicitly reflected in the improved upper limit. By introducing a simultaneous spectral fit of the signal and background data in the analysis, we succeeded in taking into account systematic errors that could not be evaluated previously in this type of measurements.