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Experimental Search for Non-Newtonian Forces in the Nanometer Scale with Slow Neutrons

Improved limits for new gravity-like short-range interactions, in which a scattering potential is modeled by the Yukawa-type parametrization, have been obtained by measuring the angular distribution of 6 Å neutrons scattering from atomic xenon gas. We have collected approximately $1.4 \times 10^8$ small-angle neutron scattering events. The data are interpreted as no evidence of new forces and show improved upper limits on the coupling strength in the interaction range of $0.3$ nm to $9$ nm. These improved constraints are also interpreted as new limits for a model, in which a charge of the new forces is expressed as a linear combination of the baryon number and the lepton number.