Comment on "First Observation of Ground State Dineutron Decay: 16Be"

TL;DR

This paper critiques a recent claim of observing dineutron decay in 16Be, showing that n-n interactions can explain the data without requiring dineutron emission, thus challenging prior interpretation.

Contribution

It demonstrates that n-n interactions can produce features similar to dineutron decay signatures, questioning the interpretation of previous experimental results.

Findings

n-n interactions cause low-energy enhancements

Dineutron decay is not the only explanation for observed data

Reinterpretation of 16Be decay mechanism is necessary

Abstract

A recent measurement [Spyrou et al., PRL 108, 102501 (2012)] of the in-flight decay of 16Be into 14Be+n+n has been interpreted as the first case of dineutron emission. Here we point out that the inclusion of the n-n interaction neglected in the description of the direct three-body decay can generate strong enhancements at low n-n relative energy and angle, as observed, without any need to invoke dineutron decay.