  Our experiment using gravitationally trapped ultracold neutrons (UCN) to
measure the neutron lifetime is reviewed. Ultracold neutrons were trapped in a
material bottle covered with perfluoropolyether. The neutron lifetime was
deduced from comparison of UCN losses in the traps with different
surface-to-volume ratios. The precise value of the neutron lifetime is of
fundamental importance to particle physics and cosmology. In this experiment,
the UCN storage time is brought closer to the neutron lifetime than in any
experiments before:the probability of UCN losses from the trap was only 1% of
that for neutron beta decay. The neutron lifetime
obtained,878.5+/-0.7stat+/-0.3sys s, is the most accurate experimental
measurement to date.
