Total Cross Sections for Ultracold Neutrons Scattered from Gases

Susan J. Seestrom; Evan Adamek; Dave Barlow; Marie Blatnik; Leah Broussard; Nathan Callahan; Steven Clayton; Chris Cude-Woods; Scott A. Currie; Eric Dees; Walt Fox; Mark A. Hoffbauer; Kevin Hickerson; Adam Holley; Chen Y. Liu; Mark F. Makela; Jason J. Medina; Deborah J. Morley; Christopher L. Morris; Robert W. Pattie; John C. Ramsey; A. Roberts; D. J. Salvat; A. Saunders; E. I. Sharapov; S.K.L. Sjue; B. A. Slaughter; P. L. Walstrom; Z. Wang; J. Wexler; T. L. Womack; A. R. Young; J. Vanderwerp; B. A. Zeck

doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.95.015501

Total Cross Sections for Ultracold Neutrons Scattered from Gases

Susan J. Seestrom
, Evan Adamek
, Dave Barlow
, Marie Blatnik
, Leah Broussard
, Nathan Callahan
, Steven Clayton
, Chris Cude-Woods
, Scott A. Currie
, Eric Dees
, Walt Fox
, Mark A. Hoffbauer
, Kevin Hickerson
, Adam Holley
, Chen Y. Liu
, Mark F. Makela
, Jason J. Medina
, Deborah J. Morley
, Christopher L. Morris
, Robert W. Pattie

John C. Ramsey, A. Roberts, D. J. Salvat, A. Saunders, E. I. Sharapov, S.K.L. Sjue, B. A. Slaughter, P. L. Walstrom, Z. Wang, J. Wexler, T. L. Womack, A. R. Young, J. Vanderwerp, B. A. Zeck

Los Alamos National Laboratory
Indiana University
North Carolina State University
California Institute of Technology
Tennessee Tech
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
Indiana University - Bloomington

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We have followed up on our previous measurements of upscattering of ultracold neutrons (UCN) from a series of gases by making measurements of total cross sections on the following gases hydrogen, ethane, methane, isobutene, n-butane, ethylene, water vapor, propane, neopentane, isopropyl alcohol, and 3 He. The values of these cross sections are important for estimating the loss rate of trapped neutrons due to residual gas and are relevant to neutron lifetime measurements using UCN. The effects of the UCN velocity and path-length distributions were accounted for in the analysis using a Monte Carlo transport code. Results are compared to our previous measurements and with the known absorption cross section for 3 He scaled to our UCN energy. We find that the total cross sections for the hydrocarbon gases are reasonably described by a function linear in the number of hydrogen atoms in the molecule.

Original language	American English
Journal	Physical Review C
Volume	95
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.95.015501
State	Published - Jan 2017
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

LANL UCN source
Ultracold neutrons
neutron scattering and capture cross sections

Disciplines

Physics

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Cite this

Seestrom, S. J., Adamek, E., Barlow, D., Blatnik, M., Broussard, L., Callahan, N., Clayton, S., Cude-Woods, C., Currie, S. A., Dees, E., Fox, W., Hoffbauer, M. A., Hickerson, K., Holley, A., Liu, C. Y., Makela, M. F., Medina, J. J., Morley, D. J., Morris, C. L., ... Zeck, B. A. (2017). Total Cross Sections for Ultracold Neutrons Scattered from Gases. Physical Review C, 95. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.95.015501

Seestrom, SJ, Adamek, E, Barlow, D, Blatnik, M, Broussard, L, Callahan, N, Clayton, S, Cude-Woods, C, Currie, SA, Dees, E, Fox, W, Hoffbauer, MA, Hickerson, K, Holley, A, Liu, CY, Makela, MF, Medina, JJ, Morley, DJ, Morris, CL, Pattie, RW , Ramsey, JC, Roberts, A, Salvat, DJ, Saunders, A, Sharapov, EI, Sjue, SKL, Slaughter, BA, Walstrom, PL, Wang, Z, Wexler, J, Womack, TL, Young, AR, Vanderwerp, J & Zeck, BA 2017, 'Total Cross Sections for Ultracold Neutrons Scattered from Gases', Physical Review C, vol. 95. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.95.015501

@article{e134455b781645d682b68b4ae607ebce,

title = "Total Cross Sections for Ultracold Neutrons Scattered from Gases",

abstract = " We have followed up on our previous measurements of upscattering of ultracold neutrons (UCN) from a series of gases by making measurements of total cross sections on the following gases hydrogen, ethane, methane, isobutene, n-butane, ethylene, water vapor, propane, neopentane, isopropyl alcohol, and 3 He. The values of these cross sections are important for estimating the loss rate of trapped neutrons due to residual gas and are relevant to neutron lifetime measurements using UCN. The effects of the UCN velocity and path-length distributions were accounted for in the analysis using a Monte Carlo transport code. Results are compared to our previous measurements and with the known absorption cross section for 3 He scaled to our UCN energy. We find that the total cross sections for the hydrocarbon gases are reasonably described by a function linear in the number of hydrogen atoms in the molecule.",

keywords = "LANL UCN source, Ultracold neutrons, neutron scattering and capture cross sections",

author = "Seestrom, \{Susan J.\} and Evan Adamek and Dave Barlow and Marie Blatnik and Leah Broussard and Nathan Callahan and Steven Clayton and Chris Cude-Woods and Currie, \{Scott A.\} and Eric Dees and Walt Fox and Hoffbauer, \{Mark A.\} and Kevin Hickerson and Adam Holley and Liu, \{Chen Y.\} and Makela, \{Mark F.\} and Medina, \{Jason J.\} and Morley, \{Deborah J.\} and Morris, \{Christopher L.\} and Pattie, \{Robert W.\} and Ramsey, \{John C.\} and A. Roberts and Salvat, \{D. J.\} and A. Saunders and Sharapov, \{E. I.\} and S.K.L. Sjue and Slaughter, \{B. A.\} and Walstrom, \{P. L.\} and Z. Wang and J. Wexler and Womack, \{T. L.\} and Young, \{A. R.\} and J. Vanderwerp and Zeck, \{B. A.\}",

year = "2017",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1103/PhysRevC.95.015501",

language = "American English",

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AU - Seestrom, Susan J.

AU - Adamek, Evan

AU - Barlow, Dave

AU - Blatnik, Marie

AU - Broussard, Leah

AU - Callahan, Nathan

AU - Clayton, Steven

AU - Cude-Woods, Chris

AU - Currie, Scott A.

AU - Dees, Eric

AU - Fox, Walt

AU - Hoffbauer, Mark A.

AU - Hickerson, Kevin

AU - Holley, Adam

AU - Liu, Chen Y.

AU - Makela, Mark F.

AU - Medina, Jason J.

AU - Morley, Deborah J.

AU - Morris, Christopher L.

AU - Pattie, Robert W.

AU - Ramsey, John C.

AU - Roberts, A.

AU - Salvat, D. J.

AU - Saunders, A.

AU - Sharapov, E. I.

AU - Sjue, S.K.L.

AU - Slaughter, B. A.

AU - Walstrom, P. L.

AU - Wang, Z.

AU - Wexler, J.

AU - Womack, T. L.

AU - Young, A. R.

AU - Vanderwerp, J.

AU - Zeck, B. A.

PY - 2017/1

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N2 - We have followed up on our previous measurements of upscattering of ultracold neutrons (UCN) from a series of gases by making measurements of total cross sections on the following gases hydrogen, ethane, methane, isobutene, n-butane, ethylene, water vapor, propane, neopentane, isopropyl alcohol, and 3 He. The values of these cross sections are important for estimating the loss rate of trapped neutrons due to residual gas and are relevant to neutron lifetime measurements using UCN. The effects of the UCN velocity and path-length distributions were accounted for in the analysis using a Monte Carlo transport code. Results are compared to our previous measurements and with the known absorption cross section for 3 He scaled to our UCN energy. We find that the total cross sections for the hydrocarbon gases are reasonably described by a function linear in the number of hydrogen atoms in the molecule.

AB - We have followed up on our previous measurements of upscattering of ultracold neutrons (UCN) from a series of gases by making measurements of total cross sections on the following gases hydrogen, ethane, methane, isobutene, n-butane, ethylene, water vapor, propane, neopentane, isopropyl alcohol, and 3 He. The values of these cross sections are important for estimating the loss rate of trapped neutrons due to residual gas and are relevant to neutron lifetime measurements using UCN. The effects of the UCN velocity and path-length distributions were accounted for in the analysis using a Monte Carlo transport code. Results are compared to our previous measurements and with the known absorption cross section for 3 He scaled to our UCN energy. We find that the total cross sections for the hydrocarbon gases are reasonably described by a function linear in the number of hydrogen atoms in the molecule.

KW - LANL UCN source

KW - Ultracold neutrons

KW - neutron scattering and capture cross sections

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DO - 10.1103/PhysRevC.95.015501

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