Protons and neutrons–known collectively as nucleons–are both the building blocks of matter, but one of these particles has received a bit more attention in certain types of nuclear physics experiments.
Until now. New results published in Physical Review Letters describe a first-time glimpse of the internal structure of the neutron thanks to the development of a special, 10-years-in-the-making detector installed in Experimental Hall B at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.
“We detected the neutron for the first time in this type of reaction, and it’s quite an important result for the study of nucleons,” said Silvia Niccolai, a research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).
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