Experimental Study of $$^{4}n$$ by Directly Detecting the Decay Neutrons

Abstract

The tetraneutron has attracted the attention of nuclear physicists during the past decades, but there is still no unambiguous confirmation of its existence or non-existence. A new experiment based on 8 He( p, 2 p) 7 H{t+ 4 n} reaction, with direct detection of the four neutrons, has been carried out at RIBF, which can hopefully help to draw a definite conclusion on the tetraneutron system.

Neutron clusters in nuclear systems

“…The multi-neutron detection efficiency decreases markedly as the number of neutrons increases since neutrons-unlike charged particles-hardly react with the detector material. Moreover, an advanced multi-neutron identification algorithm is indispensable for the correct identification of true neutron signals because a single neutron can induce multiple signals (so-called crosstalk) in the neutron detector array [5]. In this context, it should be very helpful to have complementary measurements based on the missing-mass spectroscopy without direct neutron detection, although such measurements are usually of worse resolution and more sensitive to the reaction mechanism of the selected reaction channel for the production (see, for example, Refs.…”