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.

Reports NIST research and development in the physical and engineering sciences in which the Institute is active. These include physics, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, and computer sciences. Emphasis on measurement methodology and the basic technology underlying standardization.

Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics, Volume 26 covers the significant advances in understanding the fundamentals of particle and nuclear physics. This volume is divided into four chapters, and begins with a brief overview of the various possible ideas beyond the standard model, the problem they address and their experimental tests. The next chapter deals with the basic physics of neutrino mass based on from a gauge theoretic point of view. This chapter considers the various extensions of the standard electroweak theory, along with their implications for neutrino physics. The discussion then shifts to the principles of slow neutrons and their fundamental interactions, as well as some slow neutron experiments. The final chapter surveys the role of strangeness in the context of dense hadronic matter, including strangeness as a probe of the dynamics of relativistic heavy ion collisions and its importance in astrophysics. This book will prove useful to physicists and allied scientists.

Slow-moving, low-energy ultracold neutrons provide an important tool for investigations in physics. They can be kept in hermetically sealed vessels for up to 15 minutes before they decay, allowing researchers sufficient time to observe the action of very weak fields and yielding valuable insights into neutron properties. In addition to describing how these particles are produced, detected, and analyzed, this book provides coverage of improvements in the techniques of ultracold neutron science--with information on how physicists may increase storage times--and explores ways they can be used for fundamental and applied research. Areas of study reported on include the determination of an upper limit to the electric dipole moment of neutrons, improved measurements of decay time, and new approaches to diffraction and diffusion theory. Although the text avoids mathematical detail, this is covered in appendices at chapter ends. The material is intended for specialists in neutron physics.

The principal goals of the study were to articulate the scientific rationale and objectives of the field and then to take a long-term strategic view of U.S. nuclear science in the global context for setting future directions for the field. Nuclear Physics: Exploring the Heart of Matter provides a long-term assessment of an outlook for nuclear physics. The first phase of the report articulates the scientific rationale and objectives of the field, while the second phase provides a global context for the field and its long-term priorities and proposes a framework for progress through 2020 and beyond. In the second phase of the study, also developing a framework for progress through 2020 and beyond, the committee carefully considered the balance between universities and government facilities in terms of research and workforce development and the role of international collaborations in leveraging future investments. Nuclear physics today is a diverse field, encompassing research that spans dimensions from a tiny fraction of the volume of the individual particles (neutrons and protons) in the atomic nucleus to the enormous scales of astrophysical objects in the cosmos. Nuclear Physics: Exploring the Heart of Matter explains the research objectives, which include the desire not only to better understand the nature of matter interacting at the nuclear level, but also to describe the state of the universe that existed at the big bang. This report explains how the universe can now be studied in the most advanced colliding-beam accelerators, where strong forces are the dominant interactions, as well as the nature of neutrinos.

Nuclear Analytical Methods in the Life Sciences •1994 is a forefront survey of key presentations from the 1993 International Conference on Nuclear Analytical Methods in the Life Sciences. Sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), this useful volume covers the spectrum of multidisciplinary research on both the methodological aspects and the development of nuclear analytical methods and their applications in the life sciences. The book is divided into six sections covering related material. These sections are: Methodology of Nuclear Analytical Methods; Environmental Applications; Biomedical Applications; Analysis of Biological Samples; Quality Assurance and Comparison with Other Methods; and a section dealing with miscellaneous issues, such as programs offered by the IAEA.