Fundamentals of Neutron

Physics
M. Scott Dewey
National Institute of Standards
and Technology
11/10/2011

Radiation Metrology Workshop, Buenos

Aires, Argentina

Acknowledgements for slides

Geoff Greene, Pieter Mumm, Dan Neuman,

Short History Lesson

1920

Noting that atomic number (Z) does not correspond to

atomic weight, Rutherford suggests that, in addition to
bare protons, the nucleus contains some tightly bound
proton- electron pairs or neutrons.

1930

Bothe and Becker discovered a penetrating, neutral

radiation when alpha particles hit a Be target.

Ernest Rutherford

Be

1931
Walter Bothe

12

Mme Curie shows that they are not gamma rays and they
have sufficient momentum to eject ps from paraffin.

?
Irene Curie

C n

1932

Chadwick replaced the paraffin with a variety of other

targets and, by measuring the recoil energies of the
ejected particles, was able to determine the mass of the
neutral particle
M = 1.15 ~10%

J. Chadwick, Proc. Roy. Soc., A 136 692 (1932)

Chadwick claimed this was Rutherfords Neutron

1933

Bainbridge makes precision measurements of the atomic masses

of the proton and the deuteron using the mass spectrograph

1934

Chadwick and Goldhaber make the first precision

measurement of the neutron mass by looking at the
photo-disassociation of the deuteron

p n

Using 2.62MeV gammas from Thorium and determining the

recoil energy of the protons they were able to determine*:

M n 1.0080 0.0005
KEY OBSERVATION: Mn > Mp + Me
1. The neutron cannot be a bound proton-electron pair
2. It is energetically possible for a neutron to decay to e-+ p+
*Chadwick and Goldhaber, Nature, 134 237 (1934)

Sources of neutrons
Neutron generators
D+D
D+T

n + 3He yields 2.5 MeV neutrons

n + 4He yields 14.1 MeV neutrons

Radioactive sources
252Cf, half-life 2.6 years
Am-Be, half-life 432.2 years

Spellation Neutron Source

NIST Center for Neutron Research

Why Neutrons?
Neutrons are very sensitive to hydrogen!
H and D scatter very differently
Appropriate wavelength and energy
=> geometry of key motions

Magnetic moment
Weak neutron nucleus interaction
=> penetrating
=> easily modeled

C
D

O
Si

NIST Develops Neutron Instrumentation &

Makes it Available to the Scientific Community

Source

Cold neutron
instrumentation

Liquid hydrogen
cold neutron source

Thermal neutron
instrumentation

Neutron guides

www.ncnr.nist.gov

The NCNR Has 25 Operating Beam

Instruments Tailored to Specific Needs
NG1 Vert. Refl.

BT8 Resid.
Stress Diff.

BT7 3-Axis Spec.

BT9 3-Axis Spec.

NG2 Backscattering Spec.

NG1 AND/R

NG1 Depth Pofiling

NG0 MACS

Thermal
Column
NG-5 SPINS

BT1
Powd.
Diff.

BT2 Neutron
Imaging Facil.

NG3
NG3 30
30 m
m SANS
SANS

NG4 Disk Chopper

TOF Spec.
NG5 Spin-Echo Spec.

BT5
BT5 USANS
USANS

BT4 FANS
NG7 Hor. Refl.

NG7 Prompt

NG6 Neutron
Physics

NG7 Interferometer
NG7 30 m SANS

Diffraction
Instruments

Spectrometers
Other Neutron Methods

www.ncnr.nist.gov

Emission rate of a neutron source

Concept of the Mn bath

Role of the manganese

Time (hours)

Where do the neutrons go?

NIST Manganese Baths

Why Study Neutrons?

The neutron exhibits much of the richness of nuclear physics, but
is vastly simpler, and thus more interpretable, than nuclei.
The neutron can be used to probe Strong, Weak, EM and
Gravitational phenomena as well as serving as probe for new
interactions.
Neutron decay is the archetype for all nuclear beta decay and is a
key process in astrophysics.
The neutron is well suited as a laboratory for tests of physics
beyond the Standard Model.

The Neutron is complicated enough to be interesting

But is simple enough to be understandable.

Some Neutron Properties

Mechanical Properties
Mass
Gravitational Mass (equivalence principle test)
Spin

Electromagnetic Properties
Charge (or limit on neutrality)
Internal Charge Distribution
Magnetic Dipole Moment
Electric Dipole Moment
Neutron Decay
Neutron Mean Lifetime
Correlations in Neutron Decay
Exotic Decay modes
Miscellaneous Quantum Numbers:
Intrinsic Parity (P), Isospin (I), Baryon Number (B), Strangeness (S),

Neutron Decay

1930

Pauli proposes the neutrino to explain apparent energy

and angular momentum non-conservation in beta decay

1934

Fermi takes the neutrino idea seriously and develops his

theory of beta decay

1935

The decay of the neutron is predicted by Chadwick and

Goldhaber based on their observation that Mn>Mp+Me .
Based on their M, the neutron lifetime is estimated at ~
hr.

1948

Snell and Miller observe neutron decay at Oak Ridge

1951

Robson makes the first measurement of the neutron

lifetime

Wolfgang Pauli

Enrico Fermi

Fermis View of Neutron Decay:

Modern View of Neutron Decay:

Neutron Lifetime (The need for a new measurement)

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
Thermal Equilibrium
(T > 1 MeV)

PDG tau = (885.7 +/- 0.8) s

New result from Serebrov et al.

After Freezeout
n/p decreases due to eneutron decay

Nucleosynthesis (T~0.1 MeV)

Light elements are formed.

e-

Neutron Lifetime (s)

900

890

880

870

beam
UCN bottle

1990

almost all neutrons

present are 4He
Neutron lifetime dominates the
theoretical uncertainty of 4He
abundance.

1995
Year

2000

2005

Measuring the Neutron Lifetime

Step 1.

Get One Neutron Bottle

Measuring the Neutron Lifetime

Step 1.

Fill Neutron Bottle

neutrons

Measuring the Neutron Lifetime

Let neutron decays for time t~n

Decay Rate

Step 3.

Time

pe

pp
p

pe

pp
p

pe

pp
p

Measuring the Neutron Lifetime

Step 4.

Pour neutrons out and count

N t

N 0 e

Some Neutron Bottles

Serebrov et al, Phys Lett B605 (2005)

Mampe et al, PRL 63 (1989)

Acrylic lightguide
Magnet form

Trapping region

Solenoid

Racetrack coil
Cupronickel tube

Beam stop
TPB-coated acrylic tube
Neutron shielding

Collimator

Huffman, et al, Nature, 403 (2000)

NIST Lifetime Apparatus