Radioactivity of the Neutron
Abstract
THE mass of the neutron (1.00893 mµ) is about 0.8 Mev. greater than that of the hydrogen atom (1.00813 mµ). We should expect that, from Fermi's theory, the neutron would be β--radioactive with a half-life period of about three hours, if the transition is not `forbidden'. The fact that this radioactivity has never been actually observed is attributed to the extremely short life of the capture of the neutron by nuclei through which the neutron is passing (about 1.7 × 10-4 sec. in paraffin). We here propose a method which may be capable of detecting the decay of the neutron.
- Publication:
-
Nature
- Pub Date:
- May 1945
- DOI:
- 10.1038/155574a0
- Bibcode:
- 1945Natur.155..574W