Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 1906.08223

Measurement of the total neutron scattering cross section ratios of noble gases of natural isotopic composition using a pulsed neutron beam

Christopher C. Haddock·Masayuki Hiromoto·Katsuya Hirota·Takashi Ino·Masaaki Kitaguchi·Kenji Mishima·Noriko Oi·Tatsushi Shima·Hirohiko M. Shimizu·W. Michael Snow·Tamaki Yoshioka
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Precision measurements of slow neutron cross sections with atoms have several scientific applications. In particular the n-$^{4}$He s-wave scattering length is important to know both for helping to constrain the nuclear three-body interaction and for the proper interpretation of several ongoing slow neutron experiments searching for other types of neutron-atom interactions. We present new measurements of the ratios of the neutron differential scattering cross sections for natural isotopic-abundance mixtures of the noble gases He, Ar, Kr, and Xe to natural isotopic abundance Ne. These measurements were performed using a recently developed neutron scattering apparatus for gas samples located on a pulsed slow neutron beamline which was designed to search for possible exotic neutron-atom interactions and employs both neutron time of flight information and a position-sensitive neutron detector for scattering event reconstruction. We found agreement with the literature values of scattering cross sections inferred from Ar/Ne, Kr/Ne and Xe/Ne differential cross section ratios over the $q$ range of $1 - 7$ nm$^{-1}$. However for the case of He/Ne we find that the cross section inferred differs by 11.3% (7.6 $σ$) from previously-reported values inferred from neutron phase shift measurements, but is in reasonable agreement with values from other measurements. The very large discrepancy in the He/Ne ratio calls for a new precision measurement of the n-$^{4}$He scattering length using neutron interferometry.

Explore related subjects

nucl-ex

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Christopher C. Haddock, Masayuki Hiromoto, Katsuya Hirota, Takashi Ino, Masaaki Kitaguchi, Kenji Mishima, Noriko Oi, Tatsushi Shima, Hirohiko M. Shimizu, W. Michael Snow, Tamaki Yoshioka. 2019-11-15. Measurement of the total neutron scattering cross section ratios of noble gases of natural isotopic composition using a pulsed neutron beam. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevc.100.064002

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

First Measurement of Near-Threshold J/ψ Photoproduction on the Neutron

We report the first measurement of the total and t-differential cross sections for near-threshold J/$ψ$ photoproduction on the neutron, obtained with the CLAS12 detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The measurements, performed using a liquid-deuterium target, also provide the incoherent total and t-differential cross sections on the bound proton, enabling the first direct comparison of near-threshold J/$ψ$ photoproduction on bound protons and neutrons. Interpreted within Vector Meson Dominance, holographic QCD, and GPD-based frameworks, the data allow for the investigation of the gluonic structure of bound nucleons. A comparison with free proton results reveals hints of modifications to the gluon structure of nucleons in the nuclear medium, within the assumptions of the extraction and on the underlying production mechanism. The comparison of bound neutron and bound proton cross sections provides new constraints on the near-threshold J/$ψ$ production mechanism, which is crucial in order to establish J/$ψ$ photoproduction as a probe of the nucleon's gluonic structure.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2026

Photon-induced $J/ψ$ as a linearly polarized probe of collision geometry in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

In relativistic heavy-ion collisions, the linear polarization of quasi-real photons can correlate the spin orientation of photon-induced vector mesons with the collision geometry. To explore this sensitivity, we present the first measurement of the decay angular distribution of photon-induced $J/ψ$ with respect to the event plane in heavy-ion collisions with hadronic overlap. The analysis uses Ru+Ru and Zr+Zr collisions at a nucleon--nucleon center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=200$ GeV recorded by STAR. After correcting for the finite event-plane resolution and subtracting the residual hadronic contribution, we extract a negative second-order modulation, $A_2^{\rm phot} = -0.39 \pm 0.11~(\mathrm{stat.}) \pm 0.04~(\mathrm{sys.})$, for $|y^{ee}|<0.8$, $p_{\mathrm T}^{ee}<0.2~\mathrm{GeV}/c$, and 30--80% centrality. This modulation provides evidence that the $J/ψ$ polarization is correlated with the event plane, as expected for linearly polarized photons. The observed modulation establishes polarized $J/ψ$ photoproduction as a direct probe of the transverse orientation of the initial collision geometry.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2026

Low-energy collective structure of $^{92,94}$Zr and $^{94}$Mo from ($e,e^{\prime}$) and ($p,p^{\prime}$) scattering I. Experimental results

This is the first of two papers discussing a new signature of quadrupole mixed-symmetry states in the vibrational nuclei $^{92,94}$Zr and $^{94}$Mo based on proton and neutron transition densities derived from the comparison of inelastic electron and proton scattering experiments. Results of the $(e,e^\prime)$ and $(p,p^\prime)$ experiments on these nuclei as well as $(p,p^\prime)$ data for other potential cases $^{96}$Mo and $^{70}$Zn are presented. Spin and parity quantum numbers of excited states are assigned based on angular distributions from the proton scattering data in comparison to calculations employing form factors from the collective model in distorted-wave Born approximation. Possible candidates of one-phonon fully symmetric and mixed-symmetry states as well as members of two-phonon multiplets are identified.

nucl-ex↗