A measurement of neutron-proton bremsstrahlung near 130 MeV

We have measured the double differential cross section for bremsstrahlung production in neutron-proton collisions near 130 MeV. Outgoing nucleons were detected at eight pairs of angles simultaneously. The cross sections agree with several theoretical predictions for those four angle pairs in which the proton emerged at 20° (θ = 20°), but are larger than expected in the four cases that θ_p = 32°. The method of data reduction, and the sources of uncertainty, are discussed in detail.     

Imidization reaction in polyvinylamides

Depending on their method of preparation, polyvinylamides can have nitrogen contents which vary from the theoretical value to considerably lower values. Cyanamer P-250, a polyacrylamide, manufactured by American Cyanamid Corporation, had a nitrogen content of 17.67% compared to the theoretical value of 19.7%. A polyacrylamide prepared in dioxane at 60°C and initiated by benzoyl peroxide, had a nitrogen content of only 15.5%. These low values are ascribed to loss of ammonia via intramolecular imide formation. We have found that when the intramolecular imidization reaction in poly acrylamide and in polymethacrylamide is driven to completion by heating the polymers in dilute solution, very close to 33% of the amide groups remain unreacted. Thus, unlike poly(methyl vinyl ketone) and poly(vinyl chloride), the poly-vinylamides do not obey Flory's statistical calculation for the random reaction of 1,3 groups in a head-to-tail polymer which predicts isolation of only 13.53% of the vinyl residues. Of the various possible explanations, the hypothesis of larger ring formation seems the most plausible, since specific interactions have been shown to exist between widely spaced amide groups in low molecular weight diamides. The infrared spectra of polyacrylimide and polymethacrylimide are presented and compared with those of the corresponding polyvinylamides. When the nitrogen content of polyacrylamide falls to the 14.9–15.4% N range due to imide formation, the polymer becomes water-insoluble. Because imidization stiffens the polymer chain and introduces weakly acidic groups, the imide content of a polyvinylamide should affect its compatibility with other polymeric systems.     

Measurement of the Λ→p μ− ¯v branching ratio

A sample of 1.2× 10⁶ Λ-hyperons was analyzed in order to detect the rare decay mode: Λ →pμ^?¯v. The Λ-hyperons were produced by stoppingK ^?-mesons in the 81 cm Saclay hydrogen bubble chamber at the CERN PS. We obtained for the branching ratio: $$\frac{{\Gamma {\text{(}}\Lambda \to p\mu ^ - \bar \nu )}}{{\Gamma {\text{(}}\Lambda \to {\text{all)}}}} = (1.4 \pm 0.5) \times 10^{ - 4} ,$$ based on 20 events, of which 6 have to be attributed to the background from the reaction $$\Lambda \to p\pi ^ - , \pi ^ - \to \mu ^ - \bar v.$$ The background was determined by a Monte Carlo calculation.     

Differential cross sections for np and nd elastic scattering near 130 MeV

We have measured the np (nd) elastic scattering cross sections at 25(17) angles in the interval 30°–168° (c.m.), using a neutron beam with a broad spectrum peaked near 130 MeV. At backward angles the outgoing charged particles from a liquid hydrogen (deuterium) target were detected; at forward angles we detected neutrons scattered from a hydrogenated (deuterated) scintillating target. Cross sections have been normalized to the energy dependent solution of the Livermore nucleon-nucleon partial wave analysis, evaluated at 130 MeV. The np measurements represent a marginal improvement on previous work; the nd cross sections show some differences from pd measurements, in agreement with earlier indications at an energy of 152 MeV.     

Hydrogen bonding in potassium hydrogen maleate and some simple derivatives studied by inelastic neutron scattering spectroscopy

Inelastic neutron scattering spectra (300–2500 cm^?1) of KH(CHCO₂)₂, KD(CHCO₂)₂, KH(CDCO₂)₂ and KH(CHCO₂ · CClCO₂) have been obtained and the vibrations of the hydrogen bond, with the exception of ν₂(OHO), assigned. This is the first assignment of these vibrations in a centrosymmetric intramolecularly hydrogen bonded complex. ν_as(OHO) was found to be heavily mixed and to give rise to a strong doublet in the INS spectra.