Measurement of the NP Elastic Cross Section by Neutron Transmission

ORAL

Abstract

There are very few previous measurements of the cross section for neutron-proton elastic scattering at energies between 200 and 500 keV. To improve this situation, we used a pulsed proton beam from the Van de Graaff accelerator at the University of Kentucky to produce 200-800 keV neutrons via the $^7$Li(p,n)$^7$Be reaction. We determined the total n-p elastic cross section by measuring the transmission of the neutron beam in samples of CH$_2$ and carbon, using a BC501 liquid scintillator. The cross section obtained by taking ratios between normalized sample-in and sample-out yields is independent of both detector efficiency and dead time.

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Authors

  • Brian Daub

    • Massacusetts Institute of Technology

  • Michael Kovash

    • University of Kentucky

  • Vladimir Henzl

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • MIT
    • Massachusetts Institue of Technology

  • Khayrullo Shoniyozov

    • University of Kentucky