Observation of a correlated free four-neutron system

Autor: Duer, M., Aumann, T., Gernhäuser, R., Panin, V., Paschalis, S., Rossi, D. M., Achouri, N. L., Ahn, D., Baba, H., Bertulani, C. A., Böhmer, M., Boretzky, K., Caesar, C., Chiga, N., Corsi, A., Cortina-Gil, D., Douma, C. A., Dufter, F., Elekes, Z., Feng, J., Fernández-Domínguez, B., Forsberg, U., Fukuda, N., Gasparic, I., Ge, Z., Gheller, J. M., Gibelin, J., Gillibert, A., Hahn, K. I., Halász, Z., Harakeh, M. N., Hirayama, A., Holl, M., Inabe, N., Isobe, T., Kahlbow, J., Kalantar-Nayestanaki, N., Kobayashi, T., Kondo, Y., Körper, D., Koseoglou, P., Kubota, Y., Kuti, I., Lehr, C., Lindberg, S., Marqués, F. M., Masuoka, S., Matsumoto, M., Mayer, J., Miki, K., Monteagudo, B., Nakamura, T., Nilsson, T., Obertelli, A., Orr, N. A., Otsu, H., Parlog, M., Potlog, P. M., Reichert, S., Revel, A., Saito, A. T., Sasano, M., Scheit, H., Schindler, F., Shimoura, S., Simon, H., Stuhl, L., Suzuki, H., Symochko, D., Takeda, H., Tanaka, J., Togano, Y., Tomai, T., Törnqvist, H. T., Tscheuschner, J., Uesaka, T., Wagner, V., Yamada, H., Yasuda, M., Yoneda, K., Zanetti, L., Zenihiro, J., Zhukov, M. V.
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
ISSN: 0028-0836
Popis: A long-standing question in nuclear physics is whether chargeless nuclear systems can exist. To our knowledge, only neutron stars represent near-pure neutron systems, where neutrons are squeezed together by the gravitational force to very high densities. The experimental search for isolated multi-neutron systems has been an ongoing quest for several decades1, with a particular focus on the four-neutron system called the tetraneutron, resulting in only a few indications of its existence so far2–4, leaving the tetraneutron an elusive nuclear system for six decades. Here we report on the observation of a resonance-like structure near threshold in the four-neutron system that is consistent with a quasi-bound tetraneutron state existing for a very short time. The measured energy and width of this state provide a key benchmark for our understanding of the nuclear force. The use of an experimental approach based on a knockout reaction at large momentum transfer with a radioactive high-energy 8He beam was key.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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