RT Journal Article
T1 Observation of a correlated free four-neutron system
A1 Cortina Gil, María Dolores
A1 Duer, M.
A1 Zhukov, M.V.
A1 Fernández Domínguez, Beatriz
K1 Neutron system
K1 Nuclear physics
K1 Radioactive high-energy
AB A long-standing question in nuclear physics is whether chargeless nuclear systemscan exist. To our knowledge, only neutron stars represent near-pure neutron systems,where neutrons are squeezed together by the gravitational force to very highdensities. The experimental search for isolated multi-neutron systems has been anongoing quest for several decades1, with a particular focus on the four-neutron systemcalled 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 onthe observation of a resonance-like structure near threshold in the four-neutronsystem that is consistent with a quasi-bound tetraneutron state existing for avery short time. The measured energy and width of this state provide a key benchmarkfor our understanding of the nuclear force. The use of an experimental approachbased on a knockout reaction at large momentum transfer with a radioactivehigh-energy 8He beam was key.
PB Springer Nature
SN 0028-0836
YR 2022
FD 2022-06-22
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/32386
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/32386
LA eng
NO Duer, M., Aumann, T., Gernhäuser, R. et al. Observation of a correlated free four-neutron system. Nature 606, 678–682 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04827-6
DS Minerva
RD 23 abr 2026