Generation of high-energy neutron beam by fragmentation of relativistic heavy nuclei

Abstract

The phenomenon of multiple production of neutrons in reactions with heavy nuclei induced by high-energy protons and light nuclei is analyzed using a Moving Source Model. The Lorentz transformation of the obtained neutron distributions is used to study the neutron characteristics in the inverse kinematics where relativistic heavy nuclei bombard a light-mass target. The neutron beam generated at 0˚ has a Gaussian shape with a maximum at the energy of the projectile nucleons and an energy resolution σ E /E < 4% above 6 GeV.