Influence of Electromagnetic Interaction on Neutron Scattering from Nuclei

Abstract

The influence of the interaction between the magnetic moment of a neutron and the Coulomb field of a target nucleus is investigated. A formalism is developed whereby the interaction can be treated exactly in optical-model calculations. Calculations performed at energies of 0.5, 1.0, 7.0, 14.5, and 24 MeV for Al, Mn, Nb, and Bi indicate that this electromagnetic interaction can be adequately treated in the Born approximation. Whereas the influence on the differential cross section is confined to scattering angles less than 2\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}, the influence on the polarization extends to larger angles corresponding to minima in the cross section.