Singlet Deuteron, Dineutron and Neutral Nuclei

TL;DR

This paper discusses the theoretical prediction and experimental evidence for the existence of the singlet deuteron, a hypothetical bound state of neutron and proton, and its implications for understanding dineutron existence.

Contribution

It proposes a model describing the neutron-proton interaction at low energies as a quasi-stationary level, linking the singlet deuteron to the dineutron's existence.

Findings

Experimental confirmation of the dineutron supports the singlet deuteron hypothesis.

The level's properties are determined by scattering length, effective radius, and radiative capture cross section.

Search experiments for the singlet deuteron are discussed.

Abstract

The existence of the dineutron was predicted over 70 years ago. At present, a number of experimental works confirm this assumption. By virtue of the principle of isotopic invariance, a singlet deuteron must also exist. The possibility of describing the neutron-proton interaction in the state at low energies as the excitation of a quasi-stationary level (singlet deuteron) lying below the deuteron decay threshold is discussed. The position, neutron and radiative widths of the level are determined by the scattering length, the effective radius, and the cross section for the radiative capture of neutrons by protons. Experiments to search for this level are discussed. The discovery of the singlet deuteron would be confirmation of the existence of the dineutron.