Coherent elastic scattering of low energy photons by neutrons

Abstract

The Compton process with the initial states of photons and neutrons described by the density matrices of a general form is studied for low energies of photons. The coherent contribution to the inclusive probability to record a photon is investigated in detail. This contribution gives the hologram of the neutron one-particle density matrix. The evolution of the Stokes parameters of scattered photons is described. The susceptibility tensor of a neutron gas and a wave packet of a single neutron is obtained. The explicit expression for the photon polarization operator in the presence of free neutrons is derived. It turns out that this polarization operator possesses pole singularities in the short wavelength approximation. These singularities corresponding to the additional degrees of freedom are identified with plasmons and the respective plasmon-polaritons are described. There are eight independent plasmon-polariton modes in a neutron gas and on a single neutron wave packet. Some plasmon-polariton modes prove to be tachyonic and unstable manifesting a spontaneous generation of the magnetic field. The estimates of the parameters of the neutron gas when it becomes ferromagnetic are found. In the infrared limit, the neutron wave packet behaves in coherent Compton scattering as a point particle with dynamical magnetic moment, the additional degrees of freedom being reduced to the dynamical part of the magnetic moment.