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arXiv · 2304.00324

Direct measurement of the scattering cross sections of liquid ortho-deuterium for ultracold neutrons and comparison with model calculations

Abstract

Liquid deuterium is a fluid between the quantum and classical regimes. It attracts interest from fundamental research for the verification of quantum calculations but also from neutron physics as it is a widely used neutron moderator medium. We have measured the scattering cross sections of liquid ortho-deuterium in the ultracold-neutron range for four different temperatures (19-23 K) and compared them with calculations from a parameter-free analytical calculation model as well as with previous measurements at 19 K by another research group. All three show remarkable agreement, which establishes the validity of the calculation model and proves it is a reliable basis for the derivation of scattering kernels. The deconvolution of our measured transmission data changed the cross section results noticeably only for neutrons faster than 10 m/s. We found the total scattering cross section of liquid deuterium to be inversely proportional to velocity, as is predicted by theory.

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Stefan Döge, Jürgen Hingerl, Winfried Petry, Christoph Morkel. 2023-04-01. Direct measurement of the scattering cross sections of liquid ortho-deuterium for ultracold neutrons and comparison with model calculations. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.106.054102

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