This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the fundamental theory and applications of slow-neutron scattering.

The applications of the use of cold neutrons for condensed matter research at accelerator-based spallation sources are less well-known than that of the use of cold neutrons at reactor sources. This book represents the outcome of the first international workshop on “Materials Research Using Cold Neutrons at Pulsed Sources”. It consists of overviews of the present status and future trends in research opportunities using cold neutrons, as well as topical papers focusing on the areas of small-angle neutron scattering, reflectivity and spectroscopic studies of a rich variety of materials, from adsorbed molecules to thin films to coal to metallic glasses. These papers will benefit researchers who are interested in the characterization of microscopic properties of advanced materials.

This publication addresses recent developments in neutron generator (NG) technology. It presents information on compact instruments with high neutron yield to be used for neutron activation analysis (NAA) and prompt gamma neutron activation analysis in combination with high count rate spectrometers. Traditional NGs have been shown to be effective for applications including borehole logging, homeland security, nuclear medicine and the on-line analysis of aluminium, coal and cement. Pulsed fast thermal neutron analysis, as well as tagged and timed neutron analysis, are additional techniques which can be applied using NG. Furthermore, NG can effectively be used for elemental analysis and is also effective for analysis of hidden materials by neutron radiography. Useful guidelines for developing NG based research laboratories are also provided in this publication.

Low energy neutron beams are used to address many questions in nuclear physics, particle physics and astrophysics. The scientific issues include elucidating the nature of time reversal noninvariance; understanding the origin of the baryon asymmetry in the Universe; describing the weak interaction between quarks and between nucleons; understanding the origin of the elements in stellar and big bang nucleosynthesis.This book summarizes how spallation neutron sources work and discuss the advantages of pulsed beams in reducing systematic errors in precision measurements. It also describes recent breakthroughs in ultracold neutron production, together with the physics that will be addressed by the new generation of intense neutron sources.