Null tests of time-reversal invariance

Abstract

Because null tests of parity conservation exist in nuclear and particle reactions, it has been possible to measure very precisely the (weak-interaction) parity nonconserving contribution to the process. There is, however, a proof of the nonexistence of a comparable null test of time-reversal invariance. As a result, reaction tests of T symmetry have, at best, achieved precisions several orders of magnitude below that of the tests of P symmetry. Since transmission experiments are not included in the nonexistence proof, the existing formalism used to describe spin observables in neutron transmission experiments has been expanded to include explicitly the target spin. Through this formalism, the time-reversal-violating (and parity nonconserving) forward scattering amplitudes are identified, along with the corresponding spin observables. It is noted that new and more precise tests of T symmetry are provided in transmission experiments, and that such investigations are applicable more generally in nuclear and particle physics.