Neutrons and Antineutrons

[Anilkumar]

Hi there,

 

I read this on the wikipedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antineutron

 

"Since the antineutron is electrically neutral, it cannot easily be observed directly"

 

Then,

 

does this apply to neutrons aswell?

 

What does it mean?

 

Thank you.

[Zarnaxus]

I believe that it is saying that since the antineutron is electrically neutral, you would not be able to manipulate it with magnets, so therefore, it would be difficult to observe. It also would have a very short lifespan for observing it. One might have to resort to viewing the particles that the antineutron decay into, and realize that the particles formed the antineutron before it decayed. I dont believe that the same will apply for neutrons. Their lifespan is much longer than that of an antineutron, because they are relatively stable. Even though they are still neutral, there are ways to measure them, like using neutron walls.

 

http://www.nscl.msu.edu/tech/devices/neutronwalls

[alpha2cen]

"Since the antineutron is electrically neutral, it cannot easily be observed directly"

Anti-hydrogen capturing is all done.

So next research area is anti deuterium capturing.

But neutron handling is not easy.

And then anti-neutron, how to separate it?

Neutron and anti-neutron separation is very difficult problem.

Before annihilation occurring they should be separated.

Which method? Any physical difference which we can separate them?

Directly anti-deuterium making is reasonable.

We first make anti-deuterium mixture, and separate it.

Edited December 9, 2010 by alpha2cen

[swansont]

I believe that it is saying that since the antineutron is electrically neutral, you would not be able to manipulate it with magnets, so therefore, it would be difficult to observe. It also would have a very short lifespan for observing it. One might have to resort to viewing the particles that the antineutron decay into, and realize that the particles formed the antineutron before it decayed. I dont believe that the same will apply for neutrons. Their lifespan is much longer than that of an antineutron, because they are relatively stable. Even though they are still neutral, there are ways to measure them, like using neutron walls.

 

http://www.nscl.msu.edu/tech/devices/neutronwalls

 

They are neutral, which means they won't respond to an electric field. But they do have a magnetic moment, which meant they can be magnetically confined if they are of low enough energy.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v403/n6765/abs/403062a0.html

[Anilkumar]

Hi everybody,

 

Thanks for the gracious attention.

 

Does this mean that neutrons have not been observed adequately or as much as the charged particles? And we know that much less about them?

 

And does this also mean that, all we know about the other charged particles is only their activities with respect to electric fields.

 

Thanks.

[swansont]

Not being able to control them as precisely means they are not studied as extensively, but researchers have a of of ingenuity, so there has been research done on them. Neutrons and protons also interact via the strong and weak nuclear forces, and of course via gravity, so there's a lot of study that can be done with nuclei. The fact that neutrons don't interact electrostatically probably makes some experiments easier or produce results you couldn't get with protons.

[alpha2cen]

And we know that much less about them?

 

Why neutrons are very unstable when they are alone?

Neutrons are very stable, when they are in the nuclear with protons.

Proton , electron and neutrino etc. are not dependent on there position.

Muon is independent on their position, always very unstable.

[Zarnaxus]

Don't think that we dont know much about these particles. As far as i am concerned, we can see the shadows of protons and neutrons with super fancy devices. We (when i say we i mean... the scientific commutiy.. i think) can use a tunneling microscope to actually pick atoms up and manipulate them (this has been used to make the worlds smallest guitar SUPER small). We detect the particles that explode out of a collision in a particle accelerator and map them out on complicated computer programs. So talking specifically to Anilkumar, we know a whole lot more than just there activities in respect to electric fields. We know what particles are made of, their mass, their charge, their spin, their etc. Its all recorded in the Standard Model!

 

http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om22000.html NANO GUITAR!!!! XD

 

 

[swansont]

Why neutrons are very unstable when they are alone?

Neutrons are very stable, when they are in the nuclear with protons.

Proton , electron and neutrino etc. are not dependent on there position.

Muon is independent on their position, always very unstable.

 

The stability of bound neutrons is well understood, and actually quite simple: their decay is energetically forbidden. A neutron decays into a proton (along with an electron and antineutrino). A free neutron can do this because it has more mass than the products and energy is released. In a nucleus, the energy of the protons and neutrons is quantized. If there are no proton energy levels available in the nucleus, the neutron cannot decay.

[Temporal-Elasticity]

does anybody know of any actual research to determine the mean lifetime of antineutrons?

[Eise]

1 hour ago, Temporal-Elasticity said:

does anybody know of any actual research to determine the mean lifetime of antineutrons?

Not that I am aware of. But being the antiparticle of the neutron, one would expect that its lifetime is the same as the neutron.

[Temporal-Elasticity]

On 12/8/2010 at 10:37 PM, Zarnaxus said:

I believe that it is saying that since the antineutron is electrically neutral, you would not be able to manipulate it with magnets, so therefore, it would be difficult to observe. It also would have a very short lifespan for observing it. One might have to resort to viewing the particles that the antineutron decay into, and realize that the particles formed the antineutron before it decayed. I dont believe that the same will apply for neutrons. Their lifespan is much longer than that of an antineutron, because they are relatively stable.

i wish there was hard data on that last statement...