We recently introduced a model of incoherent quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS) that treats the neutrons as wave packets of finite length and the protein as a random walker in the free energy landscape. We call the model ELM for "energy landscape model." In ELM, the interaction of the wave packet with a proton in a protein provides the dynamic information. During the scattering event, the momentum Q(t) is transferred by the wave packet to the struck proton and its moiety, exerting the force F(t) = dQ(t)/dt. The resultant energy E is stored elastically and returned to the neutron as it exits. The energy is given by E = k B (T 0 + χQ), where T 0 is the ambient temperature and χ (≈ 91 KÅ) is a new elastobaric coefficient. Experiments yield the scattering intensity (dynamic structure factor) S(Q; T) as a function of Q and T. To test our model, we use published data on proteins where only thermal vibrations are active. ELM competes with the currently accepted theory, here called the spatial motion model (SMM), which explains S(Q, T) by motions in real space. ELM is superior to SMM: It can explain the experimental angular and temperature dependence, whereas SMM cannot do so.QENS | de Broglie neutron wave packet | pressure-temperature equivalence | transient energy transfer I ncoherent quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS) is used to study, for instance, the dynamics of complex systems (1, 2). In these experiments, the scattering intensity S (Q, ω, T ) is measured as function of temperature T , momentum transfer Q, and energy transfer ω. "Incoherent" essentially means that the neutron scatters from only one proton, and thus interference from different protons does not contribute. To extract the information from the data, a model is needed. The currently accepted model, used for > 50 y, assumes that the observed effects are due to spatial motions. We call it the spatial motion model (SMM). We recently introduced a model in which S (Q, ω, T ) is based on motions in the conformational free energy landscape (FEL) (3, 4). We call the model ELM, for energy landscape model. ELM assumes that the effects observed in QENS are predominantly due to changes in the population of the FEL. ELM as introduced in ref. 4 explained the neutron scattering from proteins, but left the role of the momentum transfer Q in limbo. The Q dependence is noteworthy because, although the physics of n-p scattering at low energies is s-wave (isotropic), the observed scattering from proteins is Q-dependent (see Fig. 3A), meaning anisotropic. We have now found that Q plays an important role: It creates an inhomogeneity in the target during the passage of the neutron.Consider a neutron with wave vector q that hits a proton in a protein. S (Q, ω, T ) is measured as a function of the temperature T at different scattering angles, characterized by their wave vectors q . The wave vectors q and q determine the transferred wave vector, Q = q − q. Q is related to the momentum by P = Q. E = ω is the energy change of the neutron when it has completed its scatter...