The Neutron and the Universe - History of a Relationship

Abstract

We discuss selected topics in the field of particle- and astrophysics with neutrons. They have a direct link with our understanding of the history of the Universe and are related to recent, ongoing or future measurements. They deal with the structure of space-time (tests of gravitation at small distance scales), search for an electric dipole moment of the neutron (CP-violation and the origin of matter in the Universe), the neutron lifetime (rate of primordial nucleosynthesis) and the two-body decay of the neutron testing the V--A structure of weak interaction (right-handed neutrinos and the very early Universe). We describe the status, measurement methods and highlight experimental challenges.