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charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons,
each with mass approximately one atomic mass unit, constitute the nucleus
of an atom, and they are collectively referred to as "nucleons".[4] Their
properties and interactions are described by nuclear physics.
Within the nucleus, protons and neutrons are bound together through the
nuclear force, and neutrons are required for the stability of nuclei. Neutrons
are produced copiously in nuclear fission and fusion. They are a primary
contributor to the nucleosynthesis of chemical elements within stars through
fission, fusion, and neutron capture processes.
The neutron is essential to the production of nuclear power. After the neutron
was discovered in 1932,[7] it was quickly realized that neutrons might act to
form a nuclear chain reaction. In the 1930s, neutrons were used to produce
many different types of nuclear transmutations. When nuclear fission was
discovered in 1938,[8] it became clear that, if a fission event produced
neutrons, each of these neutrons might cause further fission events, etc., in a
cascade known as a chain reaction.[5] These events and findings led to the
first self-sustaining nuclear reactor (Chicago Pile-1, 1942) and the first
nuclear weapon (Trinity, 1945).
exists on Earth, caused by cosmic ray muons, and by the natural radioactivity
of spontaneously fissionable elements in the Earth's crust.[9] Dedicated
neutron sources like neutron generators, research reactors and spallation
sources produce free neutrons for use in irradiation and in neutron scattering
experiments.Neutrons and protons are both nucleons, which are attracted
and bound together by the nuclear force to form atomic nuclei. The nucleus
of the most common isotope of the hydrogen atom (with the chemical symbol
"H") is a lone proton. The nuclei of the heavy hydrogen isotopes deuterium
and tritium contain one proton bound to one and two neutrons, respectively.
All other types of atomic nuclei are composed of two or more protons and
various numbers of neutrons. The most common nuclide of the common
chemical element lead (Pb) has 82 protons and 126 neutrons, for example.
Free neutrons are unstable, having a mean lifetime of just under 15 minutes
(881.51.5 s) from a radioactive decay known as beta decay.[12] This decay
is possible since the mass of the neutron is slightly greater than the proton;
the free proton is stable. Neutrons or protons bound in a nucleus can be
stable or unstable, depending on the nuclide. Beta decay, in which neutrons
decay to protons, or vice versa, is governed by the weak force, and it requires
the emission or absorption of electrons and neutrinos, or their antiparticles.
Discovery[edit]
The story of the discovery of the neutron and its properties is central to the
extraordinary developments in atomic physics that occurred in the first half of
the 20th century, leading ultimately to the atomic bomb in 1945. The century
began with Ernest Rutherford and Thomas Royds proving that alpha radiation
is helium ions in 1908[16][17] and Rutherford's model for the atom in 1911,
[18] in which atoms have their mass and positive charge concentrated in a
very small nucleus.[19] The essential nature of the atomic nucleus was
established with the discovery of the neutron in 1932. By mid-century, these
discoveries and subsequent developments had ushered in the atomic age.
Rutherford atom[edit]
By about 1930 it was generally recognized that it was difficult to reconcile the
protonelectron model for nuclei with the Heisenberg uncertainty relation of
quantum mechanics.[26][27] This relation, xp , implies that an
electron confined to a region the size of an atomic nucleus has an expected
kinetic energy of 10100 MeV.[27][28][29] This energy is larger than the
binding energy of nucleons and larger than the observed energy of beta
particles emitted from the nucleus.[27] While these considerations did not
"prove" an electron could not exist in the nucleus, they were challenging for
physicists to interpret.
Models depicting the nucleus and electron energy levels in hydrogen, helium,
lithium, and neon atoms. In reality, the diameter of the nucleus is about
100,000 times smaller than the diameter of the atom.
Given the problems of the protonelectron model,[24][25] it was quickly
accepted that the atomic nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons.
Within months after the discovery of the neutron by Chadwick, Werner
Heisenberg, and independently Dmitri Ivanenko,[39] proposed a proton
neutron model for the nucleus.[40][41][42][43] While Heisenberg's theory for
protons and neutrons in the nucleus was a "major step toward understanding
the nucleus as a quantum mechanical system,"[44] he still assumed the
presence of nuclear electrons. In particular, Heisenberg assumed the neutron
was a protonelectron composite, for which there is no quantum mechanical
explanation. Heisenberg had no explanation for how lightweight electrons
could be bound within the nucleus. Heisenberg introduced the first theory of
nuclear exchange forces that bind the nucleons and the notion of nuclear
isospin. Also other physicists, like Ernest Lawrence, assumed the composite
structure of the neutron.
The protonneutron model explained the puzzle of dinitrogen. When 14N was
proposed to consist of 3 pairs each of protons and neutrons, with an
additional unpaired neutron and proton each contributing a spin of 12 in
the same direction for a total spin of 1 , the model became viable. Soon,
neutrons were used to naturally explain spin differences in many different
nuclides in the same way.
In Rome Enrico Fermi bombarded heavier elements with neutrons and found
them to be radioactive. By 1934 Fermi had used neutrons to induce
radioactivity in 22 different elements, many of these elements of high atomic
number. Noticing that other experiments with neutrons at his laboratory
seemed to work better on a wooden table than a marble table, Fermi
suspected that the protons of the wood were slowing the neutrons and so
increasing the chance for the neutron to interact with nuclei. Fermi therefore
passed neutrons through paraffin wax to slow them and found that the
radioactivity of bombarded elements increased by a hundredfold. The cross
section for interaction with nuclei is much larger for slow neutrons than for
fast neutrons. In 1938 Fermi received the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his
demonstrations of the existence of new radioactive elements produced by
neutron irradiation, and for his related discovery of nuclear reactions brought
about by slow neutrons".[51]
Jointly with Lise Meitner and his pupil and assistant Fritz Strassmann, Otto
Hahn furthered the research begun by Fermi and his team when he
bombarded uranium with neutrons at his laboratory in Berlin. Between 1934
and 1938, Hahn, Meitner, and Strassmann found a great number of
radioactive transmutation products from these experiments, all of which they
regarded as transuranic.[52] The decisive experiment on 1617 December
1938 (the celebrated "radiumbariummesothoriumfractionation") produced
puzzling results: the three isotopes consistently behaved not as radium, but
as barium.[53] By January 1939 Hahn had concluded that he was seeing light
platinoids, barium, lanthanum, and cerium. Hahn and his collaborators had
observed nuclear fission, or the fractionation of uranium nuclei into light
elements, induced by neutron bombardment. In their second publication on
nuclear fission, Hahn and Strassmann predicted the existence and liberation
of additional neutrons during the fission process.[54] Frdric Joliot and his
team proved this phenomena to be a chain reaction in March 1939. In 1945
Hahn received the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his discovery of the
fission of heavy atomic nuclei." [55][56][57]
The prediction and discovery of the non-zero magnet moment of the neutron
by Igor Tamm, Semen Altschuler, Isidor Rabi was surprinsing from a neutral
particle.[citation needed] The proof of elementary particle status was done by
excluding the proton-electron structure by Franz N. D. Kurie.[citation needed]
The discovery of nuclear fission at the end of 1938 marked a shift in the
centers of nuclear research from Europe to the United States. Large numbers
of scientists were migrating to the United States to escape the troubles in
Europe and the looming war (See Jewish scientists and the Manhattan
Project). The new centers of nuclear research were the universities in the
United States, particularly Columbia University in New York and the University
of Chicago where Enrico Fermi had relocated, and a new research facility at
Los Alamos, New Mexico beginning in 1942, the new home of the Manhattan
project.
The Feynman diagram for beta decay of a neutron into a proton, electron, and
electron antineutrino via an intermediate heavy W boson
Under the Standard Model of particle physics, the only possible decay mode
for the neutron that conserves baryon number is for one of the neutron's
quarks to change flavour via the weak interaction. The decay of one of the
neutron's down quarks into a lighter up quark can be achieved by the
emission of a W boson. By this process, the Standard Model description of
beta decay, the neutron decays into a proton (which contains one down and
two up quarks), an electron, and an electron antineutrino.
n0 p+ + e +
e
where p+, e, and
e denote the proton, electron and electron antineutrino, respectively. For the
free neutron the decay energy for this process (based on the masses of the
neutron, proton, and electron) is 0.782343 MeV. The maximal energy of the
beta decay electron (in the process wherein the neutrino receives a
vanishingly small amount of kinetic energy) has been measured at 0.782 .
013 MeV.[60] The latter number is not well-enough measured to determine
the comparatively tiny rest mass of the neutrino (which must in theory be
subtracted from the maximal electron kinetic energy) as well as neutrino
mass is constrained by many other methods.
A small fraction (about one in 1000) of free neutrons decay with the same
products, but add an extra particle in the form of an emitted gamma ray:
n0 p+ + e +
e+
This gamma ray may be thought of as a sort of "internal bremsstrahlung" that
arises as the emitted beta particle interacts with the charge of the proton in
an electromagnetic way. Internal bremsstrahlung gamma ray production is
also a minor feature of beta decays of bound neutrons (as discussed below).
the resulting proton requires an available state at lower energy than the
initial neutron state. In stable nuclei the possible lower energy states are all
filled, meaning they are each occupied by two protons with spin up and spin
down. The Pauli exclusion principle therefore disallows the decay of a neutron
to a proton within stable nuclei. The situation is similar to electrons of an
atom, where electrons have distinct atomic orbitals and are prevented from
decaying to lower energy states, with the emission of a photon, by the
exclusion principle.
Inside a nucleus, a proton can transform into a neutron via inverse beta
decay, if an energetically allowed quantum state is available for the neutron.
This transformation occurs by emission of an antielectron (also called
positron) and an electron neutrino:
p+ n0 + e+ +
e
The transformation of a proton to a neutron inside of a nucleus is also
possible through electron capture:
p+ + e n0 +
e
Positron capture by neutrons in nuclei that contain an excess of neutrons is
also possible, but is hindered because positrons are repelled by the positive
nucleus, and quickly annihilate when they encounter electrons.
This isotope has one unpaired proton and one unpaired neutron, so either the
proton or the neutron can decay. This particular nuclide (though not all
nuclides in this situation) is almost equally likely to decay through proton
decay by positron emission (18%) or electron capture (43%), as through
neutron decay by electron emission (39%).
Intrinsic properties[edit]
Electric charge[edit]
The total electric charge of the neutron is 0 e. This zero value has been
tested experimentally, and the present experimental limit for the charge of
the neutron is 2(8)1022 e,[61] or 3(13)1041 C. This value is
consistent with zero, given the experimental uncertainties (indicated in
parentheses).
Mass[edit]
The mass of a neutron cannot be directly determined by mass spectrometry
due to lack of electric charge. However, since the mass of protons and
deuterons can be measured by mass spectrometry, the mass of a neutron
can be deduced by subtracting proton mass from deuteron mass, with the
difference being the mass of the neutron plus the binding energy of
deuterium (expressed as a positive emitted energy). The latter can be
directly measured by measuring the energy (B_d) of the single 0.7822 MeV
gamma photon emitted when neutrons are captured by protons (this is
exothermic and happens with zero-energy neutrons), plus the small recoil
kinetic energy (E_{rd}) of the deuteron (about 0.06% of the total energy).
mneutron = 1.008644904(14) u
The value for the neutron mass in MeV is less accurately known, due to less
accuracy in the known conversion of u to MeV:[70]
Anti-neutron[edit]
Main article: Antineutron
The antineutron is the antiparticle of the neutron. It was discovered by Bruce
Cork in the year 1956, a year after the antiproton was discovered. CPTsymmetry puts strong constraints on the relative properties of particles and
antiparticles, so studying antineutrons yields provide stringent tests on CPTsymmetry. The fractional difference in the masses of the neutron and
antineutron is (96)105. Since the difference is only about two standard
deviations away from zero, this does not give any convincing evidence of CPTviolation.[12]
Neutron compounds[edit]
Dineutrons and tetraneutrons[edit]
Main articles: Dineutron and Tetraneutron
The existence of stable clusters of 4 neutrons, or tetraneutrons, has been
hypothesised by a team led by Francisco-Miguel Marqus at the CNRS
Laboratory for Nuclear Physics based on observations of the disintegration of
beryllium-14 nuclei. This is particularly interesting because current theory
The extreme pressure inside a neutron star may deform the neutrons into a
cubic symmetry, allowing tighter packing of neutrons.[72]
Detection[edit]
Main article: Neutron detection
The common means of detecting a charged particle by looking for a track of
ionization (such as in a cloud chamber) does not work for neutrons directly.
Neutrons that elastically scatter off atoms can create an ionization track that
is detectable, but the experiments are not as simple to carry out; other
means for detecting neutrons, consisting of allowing them to interact with
atomic nuclei, are more commonly used. The commonly used methods to
detect neutrons can therefore be categorized according to the nuclear
processes relied upon, mainly neutron capture or elastic scattering. A good
discussion on neutron detection is found in chapter 14 of the book Radiation
Detection and Measurement by Glenn F. Knoll (John Wiley & Sons, 1979).
Fast neutron detectors have the advantage of not requiring a moderator, and
therefore being capable of measuring the neutron's energy, time of arrival,
and in certain cases direction of incidence.
Applications[edit]
Science with Neutrons
Foundations
Neutron temperature
Flux Radiation Transport
Cross section Absorption Activation
Neutron scattering
Neutron diffraction
Small-angle neutron scattering
GISANS
Reflectometry
Inelastic neutron scattering
Triple-axis spectrometer
Time-of-flight spectrometer
Backscattering spectrometer
Spin-echo spectrometer
Other applications
Neutron tomography
Activation analysis Prompt gamma activation analysis
Fundamental research with neutrons: Ultracold neutrons Interferometry
Fast neutron therapy
Neutron capture therapy
Infrastructure
Neutron sources: Research reactor Spallation Neutron moderator
Neutron optics: Guide Supermirror Polarizer
Detection
Neutron facilities
America: HFIR LANSCE NIST CNR -SNS
Australia: OPAL
Asia: J-PARC HANARO
Europe: BER II FRM II ILL ISIS JINR LLB PINS SINQ
Historic: IPNS HFBR
Planned: ESS
User Affiliations: ENSA
vte
The neutron plays an important role in many nuclear reactions. For example,
neutron capture often results in neutron activation, inducing radioactivity. In
particular, knowledge of neutrons and their behavior has been important in
the development of nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. The fissioning of
elements like uranium-235 and plutonium-239 is caused by their absorption
of neutrons.
A major use of neutrons is to excite delayed and prompt gamma rays from
elements in materials. This forms the basis of neutron activation analysis
(NAA) and prompt gamma neutron activation analysis (PGNAA). NAA is most
often used to analyze small samples of materials in a nuclear reactor whilst
PGNAA is most often used to analyze subterranean rocks around bore holes
and industrial bulk materials on conveyor belts.
Medical therapies[edit]
Main articles: Fast neutron therapy and Neutron capture therapy of cancer
Because neutron radiation is both penetrating and ionizing, it can be
exploited for medical treatments. Neutron radiation can have the unfortunate
side-effect of leaving the affected area radioactive, however. Neutron
tomography is therefore not a viable medical application.
Fast neutron therapy utilizes high energy neutrons typically greater than 20
MeV to treat cancer. Radiation therapy of cancers is based upon the biological
response of cells to ionizing radiation. If radiation is delivered in small
sessions to damage cancerous areas, normal tissue will have time to repair
itself, while tumor cells often cannot.[80] Neutron radiation can deliver
energy to a cancerous region at a rate an order of magnitude larger than
gamma radiation[81]
Beams of low energy neutrons are used in boron capture therapy to treat
cancer. In boron capture therapy, the patient is given a drug that contains
boron and that preferentially accumulates in the tumor to be targeted. The
tumor is then bombarded with very low energy neutrons (although often
higher than thermal energy) which are captured by the boron-10 isotope in
the boron, which produces an excited state of boron-11 that then decays to
produce lithium-7 and an alpha particle that have sufficient energy to kill the
malignant cell, but insufficient range to damage nearby cells. For such a
therapy to be applied to the treatment of cancer, a neutron source having an
intensity of the order of billion (109) neutrons per second per cm2 is
preferred. Such fluxes require a research nuclear reactor.
Protection[edit]
Exposure to free neutrons can be hazardous, since the interaction of neutrons
with molecules in the body can cause disruption to molecules and atoms, and
can also cause reactions that give rise to other forms of radiation (such as
protons). The normal precautions of radiation protection apply: Avoid
exposure, stay as far from the source as possible, and keep exposure time to
a minimum. Some particular thought must be given to how to protect from
neutron exposure, however. For other types of radiation, e.g. alpha particles,
beta particles, or gamma rays, material of a high atomic number and with
high density make for good shielding; frequently, lead is used. However, this
approach will not work with neutrons, since the absorption of neutrons does
not increase straightforwardly with atomic number, as it does with alpha,
beta, and gamma radiation. Instead one needs to look at the particular
interactions neutrons have with matter (see the section on detection above).
For example, hydrogen-rich materials are often used to shield against
neutrons, since ordinary hydrogen both scatters and slows neutrons. This
often means that simple concrete blocks or even paraffin-loaded plastic
blocks afford better protection from neutrons than do far more dense
materials. After slowing, neutrons may then be absorbed with an isotope that
has high affinity for slow neutrons without causing secondary capture
radiation, such as lithium-6.
Neutron temperature[edit]
Main article: Neutron temperature
Thermal neutrons[edit]
A thermal neutron is a free neutron that is Boltzmann distributed with kT =
0.0253 eV (4.01021 J) at room temperature. This gives characteristic (not
average, or median) speed of 2.2 km/s. The name 'thermal' comes from their
energy being that of the room temperature gas or material they are
permeating. (see kinetic theory for energies and speeds of molecules). After a
number of collisions (often in the range of 1020) with nuclei, neutrons arrive
at this energy level, provided that they are not absorbed.
Cold neutrons[edit]
Cold neutrons are thermal neutrons that have been equilibrated in a very cold
substance such as liquid deuterium. Such a cold source is placed in the
moderator of a research reactor or spallation source. Cold neutrons are
particularly valuable for neutron scattering experiments.[citation needed]
They are named fission energy or fast neutrons to distinguish them from
lower-energy thermal neutrons, and high-energy neutrons produced in cosmic
showers or accelerators. Fast neutrons are produced by nuclear processes
such as nuclear fission. Neutrons produced in fission, as noted above, have a
MaxwellBoltzmann distribution of kinetic energies from 0 to ~14 MeV, a
mean energy of 2 MeV (for U-235 fission neutrons), and a mode of only 0.75
MeV, which means that more than half of them do not qualify as fast (and
thus have almost no chance of initiating fission in fertile materials, such as U238 and Th-232).
Fast neutrons can be made into thermal neutrons via a process called
moderation. This is done with a neutron moderator. In reactors, typically
heavy water, light water, or graphite are used to moderate neutrons.
Fusion neutrons[edit]
The fusion reaction rate increases rapidly with temperature until it maximizes
and then gradually drops off. The DT rate peaks at a lower temperature
(about 70 keV, or 800 million kelvins) and at a higher value than other
reactions commonly considered for fusion energy.
For more details on this topic, see Nuclear fusion Criteria and candidates for
terrestrial reactions.
DT (deuteriumtritium) fusion is the fusion reaction that produces the most
energetic neutrons, with 14.1 MeV of kinetic energy and traveling at 17% of
the speed of light. DT fusion is also the easiest fusion reaction to ignite,
reaching near-peak rates even when the deuterium and tritium nuclei have
only a thousandth as much kinetic energy as the 14.1 MeV that will be
produced.
14.1 MeV neutrons have about 10 times as much energy as fission neutrons,
and are very effective at fissioning even non-fissile heavy nuclei, and these
high-energy fissions produce more neutrons on average than fissions by
lower-energy neutrons. This makes DT fusion neutron sources such as
proposed tokamak power reactors useful for transmutation of transuranic
waste. 14.1 MeV neutrons can also produce neutrons by knocking them loose
from nuclei.
On the other hand, these very high energy neutrons are less likely to simply
be captured without causing fission or spallation. For these reasons, nuclear
weapon design extensively utilizes DT fusion 14.1 MeV neutrons to cause
more fission. Fusion neutrons are able to cause fission in ordinarily non-fissile
materials, such as depleted uranium (uranium-238), and these materials
have been used in the jackets of thermonuclear weapons. Fusion neutrons
also can cause fission in substances that are unsuitable or difficult to make
into primary fission bombs, such as reactor grade plutonium. This physical
fact thus causes ordinary non-weapons grade materials to become of concern
in certain nuclear proliferation discussions and treaties.
Intermediate-energy neutrons[edit]
Cross sections for both capture and fission reactions often have multiple
resonance peaks at specific energies in the epithermal energy range. These
are of less significance in a fast neutron reactor, where most neutrons are
absorbed before slowing down to this range, or in a well-moderated thermal
reactor, where epithermal neutrons interact mostly with moderator nuclei,
not with either fissile or fertile actinide nuclides. However, in a partially
moderated reactor with more interactions of epithermal neutrons with heavy
metal nuclei, there are greater possibilities for transient changes in reactivity
that might make reactor control more difficult.
Ratios of capture reactions to fission reactions are also worse (more captures
without fission) in most nuclear fuels such as plutonium-239, making
epithermal-spectrum reactors using these fuels less desirable, as captures
not only waste the one neutron captured but also usually result in a nuclide
that is not fissile with thermal or epithermal neutrons, though still fissionable
with fast neutrons. The exception is uranium-233 of the thorium cycle, which
has good capture-fission ratios at all neutron energies.
High-energy neutrons[edit]
These neutrons have much more energy than fission energy neutrons and are
generated as secondary particles by particle accelerators or in the
atmosphere from cosmic rays. They can have energies as high as tens of
joules per neutron. These neutrons are extremely efficient at ionization and
far more likely to cause cell death than X-rays or protons.[82][83]