Electron Dynamics in Neutron Scattering with Hydrogen Atoms

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical method to extract nuclear interaction parameters from electron momentum spectra in neutron-proton scattering experiments using hydrogen gas targets, offering insights into ultrafast scattering dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a novel three-body scattering model and computational approach to determine n-p interaction parameters from electron spectra, enhancing understanding of nuclear forces.

Findings

Electron dynamics are sensitive to n-p interaction parameters.

The momentum spectrum varies significantly with potential parameters.

The method can potentially detect ultrafast scattering processes.

Abstract

In neutron-proton (n-p) scattering experiments, gas targets have been used to measure scattering length by detecting neutrons and recoil protons. Changes in electron dynamics within the gas target have a negligible effect on dynamics of neutrons and protons. However, electron dynamics are sensitive to the specific form of the n-p interaction during the scattering process, providing additional information to derive parameters in nuclear interaction models. We propose a theoretical approach to obtain these parameters from the momentum spectrum of ionized electrons within a hydrogen atomic gas target. This approach is based on a three-body scattering involving a neutron, a proton and an electron. We model the n-p interaction as the Yukawa potential and obtain the momentum spectrum of ionized electrons through the solution of the Time-Dependent Schr\"odinger Equation. Electron dynamics exhibit significant differences at various potential parameters. These parameters can be determined by comparing numerical calculations with experimental results. Moreover, this approach offers insights into detecting ultrafast scattering processes.