Physics of the Neutron

Abstract

The nuclear and particle physics of the free neutron is described for neutron energies in the range of nanoelectronvolts to megaelectronvolts. The interaction of the neutron with the atomic nucleus, which comprises scattering and absorption, and the reaction mechanism are discussed, including parity nonconserving processes. In neutron particle physics, the progress in neutron sources and neutron beams has yielded experimental results for sensitive tests of the standard model in particle physics and beyond and some key experiments are presented.