The mystery surrounding the lifetime of free neutrons may soon have a solution, according to a new paper by a team at the Technical University of Vienna (TU Wien), Austria. The results show that the answer to this question may lie in the ‘excited state’ of the particle.

The researchers say these neutrons usually decay in about 15 minutes, but they were unable to find data confirming the exact lifetime of the subatomic particle. If they are in the atomic nucleus, this value changes because they exist for an indefinite period of time. The study was published in the journal Physical Review D.

However, the free neutrons that decay in 15 minutes are different. When scientists tried to make measurements on such particles over their lifetimes, Even if they use two study methods, they face different results. So the authors concluded that the answer might lie in the ‘excited state’ of free neutrons.

“For almost three decades, physicists have been puzzled by conflicting results on this subject. A nuclear reactor is usually used as the neutron source for such measurements. During radioactive decay in the reactor, free neutrons are produced. These free neutrons can then be channeled into a neutron beam, where they can be measured precisely.” “said Benjamin Koch, one of the study’s authors and from the Institute for Theoretical Physics at TU Wien.

Excited state and free neutrons

Scientists can produce free neutrons from radioactive decay in a nuclear reactor; These particles then decay and turn into electrons, protons or antineutrinos. To try to understand their useful life, scientists led them to conduct tests with a neutron beam and thus obtain precise measurements.

In another method, free neutrons are placed in a closed container and how long they stay inside is observed. At the end of the measurements, scientists realized that the lifespan of neutron beams was approximately eight seconds longer than the other method.

What happens is that maybe not all neutrons arise the same way. For example, neutrons starting in the excited state can last slightly longer than those in the ground state. So, in an excited state, These subatomic particles have more energy.

“You can think of it like a bubble bath. If I add energy and bubbles, it creates a lot of bubbles; you could say I’m making the bubble bath exciting. But if I wait, the bubbles burst and the bath returns to its original state. According to our model, the probability of a neutron decaying depends largely on its state.” explains fellow author Felix Hummel.

Follow the latest developments in science at TecMundo. If you wish, take the opportunity to understand how radio signals reveal the slowest neutron star ever detected. Until next time!

Source: Tec Mundo

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I'm Blaine Morgan, an experienced journalist and writer with over 8 years of experience in the tech industry. My expertise lies in writing about technology news and trends, covering everything from cutting-edge gadgets to emerging software developments. I've written for several leading publications including Gadget Onus where I am an author.

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