Archive of historical materials
Notes on Resonance Scattering of Neutrons
OU1935-A1 (9 pages) Date: April 16, 1935
In this note, Yukawa examined a case in which a neutron collides with the nuclei and scatter. He attempted to determine the energy level of the resonance scattering that occurred during the above phenomenon by solving the Schroedinger equation of quantum mechanics. He solved the equation by approximating the potential of the area around the neutron nucleus as infinite potential well. This is a subject that today’s university students majoring in physics study in classrooms. Yukawa used spherical wave expansion to obtain the scattering amplitude. It is interesting that Yukawa described the method in a style that resembled the style of writing a textbook. In the last two pages, Yukawa tried to determine the probability of photon (electromagnetic wave) release. (Written by Yutaka Hosotani)
