Using the Neutron Fizeau Effect and Neutron Interferometry to Measure Energy-Dependent Contributions to the Neutron Optical Potential

Abstract

We propose a method to measure the energy dependence of the neutron optical potential $dV_{opt}/dE$ in the slow neutron energy regime. Our method makes essential use of a special property of the phase shift for a nonrelativistic neutron in moving matter, known as the neutron Fizeau effect. If a neutron traverses a medium which moves along the surfaces of its own parallel boundaries, the neutron only experiences a phase shift if the neutron optical potential of matter depends on the incident neutron energy. This feature of the neutron Fizeau effect can be combined with newly-developed forms of neutron interferometry to conduct sensitive measurements of $dV_{opt}/dE$. We describe some examples of scientific applications of this idea in the fields of neutron optics, subthreshold neutron-nucleus resonances, parity violation in low-energy p-wave neutron-nucleus resonances, and neutron scattering amplitudes of the nuclei of rare earth elements.