VIP-2 —High-Sensitivity Tests on the Pauli Exclusion Principle for Electrons

Abstract

The VIP collaboration is performing high sensitivity tests of the Pauli Exclusion Principle for electrons in the extremely low cosmic background environment of the underground Gran Sasso National Laboratory INFN (Italy). In particular, the VIP-2 Open Systems experiment was conceived to put strong constraints on those Pauli Exclusion Principle violation models which respect the so-called Messiah–Greenberg superselection rule. The experimental technique consists of introducing a direct current in a copper conductor, and searching for the X-rays emission coming from a forbidden atomic transition from the L shell to the K shell of copper when the K shell is already occupied by two electrons. The analysis of the first three months of collected data (in 2018) is presented. The obtained result represents the best bound on the Pauli Exclusion Principle violation probability which fulfills the Messiah–Greenberg rule.