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Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE

Experimental test of the de Broglie wave packet nature of the neutron

Masahiko Utsuro, Vladimir K. Ignatovich, Peter W. Geltenbort, Th. Brenner, James Butterworth, M. Hino, Kiyoshi Okumura, Masaaki Sugimoto

Published Nov 23, 1999• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We describe an experimental test on transmission of neutrons with velocities near 70 m/s through a Si single crystal with ultra-high precision polished surfaces, when neutrons undergo total reflection at a grazing angle lower than the critical angle. The transmission probability estimated from our measurements is at the level 9 X 10-5, which is consistent with theoretical expectations, and previous measurements.

DOI
10.1117/12.371137

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We describe an experimental test on transmission of neutrons with velocities near 70 m/s through a Si single crystal with ultra-high precision polished surfaces, when neutrons undergo total reflection at a grazing angle lower than the critical angle. The transmission probability estimated from our measurements is at the level 9 X 10-5, which is consistent with theoretical expectations, and previous measurements.
Reflection of cold neutrons from thin films, when the free neutron wave function is supposed to be the de Broglie singular wave-packet, is considered. Small corrections to interference pattern for the reflection dependence on the packet width is found. This correction for the case, when the width of the packet extracted from ultra cold neutrons anomaly, is calculated. The correction is shown can also be represented as a small contribution of incoherent reflection from interfaces of the film. The magnitude of this contribution is computed.
We report the results of a neutron interferometry experiment where for the first time (to our knowledge) a phase shift of a neutron de Broglie wave induced by moving matter has been successfully measured. This experiment is the quantum-mechanical analog of the optical Fizeau effect. The observed phase shift is caused by the motion of matter itself, and not by the motion of its boundaries. The experimental results are found to be in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. Some unexpected and previously unreported neutron wave interference effects observed during the experiment are also reported.
A cold beam of He∗(23S1){\mathrm{He}}^{*}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}(2\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}^{3}S_{1})He∗(23S1​) atoms is used at grazing incidence to study the quantum reflection on a flat polished silicon surface. We measure the reflectivity as a function of the normal incident velocity component between 3 and 30cm∕s30\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{cm}∕\mathrm{s}30cm∕s. Our result is in reasonable agreement with a calculation of the attractive van der Waals surface potential using the dielectric function of Si and the dipole polarizability of He∗{\mathrm{He}}^{*}He∗. We discuss the influence of the conductivity and of a thin oxide layer on the potential. By comparing our data to those previously measured with Ne∗{\mathrm{Ne}}^{*}Ne∗ atoms, we are also able to confirm the scaling of the reflectivity with atomic mass.
We propose a test of conformal invariance in critical phenomena based on the study of a two-point correlation function in the presence of a boundary. This two-point function can be studied using X-ray or neutron scattering in the conditions of total reflection (so-called grazing scattering). The conformal Ward identity in momentum space is here expressed as a differential constraint on the scattering cross-section, as a function of the momentum transfer and the scattering angle. Experimental verification using X-rays and binary alloys appears well within the existing techniques, while feasibility for neutron scattering requires further study. This would be the first direct experimental test of conformal invariance in critical phenomena, a symmetry widely assumed but never directly verified.