Национальный исследовательский

ядерный университет
(МИФИ)
Институт Ядерной Физики и Технологий
Кафедра №5
Теоретической и Экспериментальной Физики Ядерных Реакторов

Курс: Теория Переноса

Нейтронов
Лекция 3

Кругликов Антон Евгеньевич

AEKruglikov@mephi.ru
 Лекция 3. План

1. Классификация нейтронов по энергиям

2. Понятие микросечения
3. Понятие макросечения и длины свободного пробега нейтрона
4. Понятие плотности, плотности потока и плотности тока нейтронов
5. Понятие скорости реакций
 Energy classification of neutrons

Neutron Energy <1 eV 1 ev – 10 keV >10 keV (<20MeV)

Name thermal resonance fast
Reduced de Broglie wavelength for neutrons of various energies

Sizes of atomic nuclei ~ 1 – 10·10-13 → we consider interaction of neutron and

nucleus as individual collision and consider the neutron as a wave

Distance between atoms ~ 10-8 → we consider neutron as a particle for resonance

and fast neutrons, for thermal neutrons we must take into account it’s wave
properties
 Energy classification of neutrons

• A free neutron, in comparison with a proton, is slightly heavier, has no

charge and undergoes β-decay;
• A neutron, having no electric charge, easily penetrates the area of ​
action nuclear forces and participates in nuclear interactions;
• A neutron should be considered as a wave in describing the interaction
of a neutron with a nucleus, and at the same time as a point particle in
describing a neutron field in a medium (except for the thermal energy
range);
• A neutron is considered as a stable particle both when describing the
interaction of a neutron with a nucleus, and when describing a neutron
field in a medium.

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 Microscopic cross section

R ~ I ⋅ (N⋅S⋅dx) – reaction rate

The probability of a nuclear reaction taking place can be expressed in

terms of a quantity σ which expresses the probable reaction rate for I
neutrons traveling with a distance dx in a material with N nuclides per
unit volume:

σ = R/INSdx

The units of σ are area, which gives rise to the concept of σ as a

cross-sectional area presented to the neutron by the nucleus, for a
particular reaction process, and to the designation of σ as a cross
section. Cross sections are usually on the order of 10 −24 cm2, and
this unit is referred to as a barn, for historical reasons.

Since the neutron-nucleus reactions are characterized by quantum mechanical phenomena, the
microscopic cross section is characteristic of each nuclide and is a function of reaction type, e.g.
scattering, capture and fission, and depends heavily on the relative speed between the neutron and
nucleous.
 Microscopic cross section

The fission cross section, σf , is a measure of the probability that a neutron and a nucleus interact to form a
compound nucleus which then undergoes fission.

The fission cross section, σc , is a measure of the probability that a neutron and a nucleus interact to form a
compound nucleus which then the compound nucleous will generally decay by emission of one or more gamma
rays.

Published experimental and theoretical results on neutron–nuclear reactions are collected by several
collaborating nuclear data agencies worldwide.

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 Microscopic cross section

The probability for compound nucleus formation is greatly enhanced, when the
sum of neutron’s kinetic energy and binding energy of this neutron is very similar
to some of excited energy levels of the compound nucleus

The excited compound nucleus

will generally decay by emission
of one or more gamma rays, the
combined energy of which is equal
Excited level of
compound nucleous
to the difference in the excited-
Neutron binding
energy
and ground-state energy levels of
the compound nucleus.

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 Microscopic cross section

In contrast to the previously considered

reaction of radiative capture, in the
reaction of resonance scattering, the target
nucleus does not pass into a new one but
a neutron is ejected from compound
nucleolus

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Microscopic cross section

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 Macroscopic cross section and mean free path

Macroscopic cross section represents the probability of neutron-nucleous reactions

per unit distance of neutron travel. Units [cm-1].
In an infinite medium this observation also leads to the interpretation that λ=1/Ʃ
represents the average distance a neutron travels between interactions or mean
free path.

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 Macroscopic cross section and mean free path

Find the mean free path from its definition:

where w(x)dx – the probability of the first interactions that can

be defined as the product of the probabilities of two
independent probabilities processes, i.e. the passage of a
neutron in a medium of a path x without effects (P1) and the
interaction of a neutron on the path dx near point x (P2)

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 Macroscopic cross section and mean free path

The function I(x) describes the distribution of neutrons along the x axis, which
have not yet experienced interaction with the nuclei of the medium (non-
interacting neutrons). Obviously, the quantity

I(x)/I0 = exp (–Σx)

is the probability for a neutron to pass through the path x without mutual action,
so

P1 = exp (–Σx)
P2 = Σdx

Task:
Find λ in an infinite medium and in a plate of thickness a

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 Macroscopic cross section and mean free path

Mean free path (λi) - average distance which passes a

neutron in the medium from its birth point to a point of the
first interaction of type i.
λi = 1 / 𝛴i
Mean neutron lifetime in the medium – the ratio of mean
free path to absorption λa by the neutron velocity v

𝜏a = λa / v
Mean time between two scatterings in the medium – the
ratio of mean free path to scattering λs by the neutron
velocity (in assumption that the neutron velocity doesn’t change)
𝜏s = λs / v
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 Neutron density, neutron flux, neutron current

1. Neutron can be considered as a point particle, since for neutrons with energies
from units of electron volts to several megaelectronvolt, the reduced de Broglie
wavelength is much less distance between neighboring nuclei in the
environment. This statement is violated only at neutron energies in the thermal
region (significantly below 1 eV) - in the so-called neutron thermalization
region, which will be considered separately in a special chapter of this manual

2. Nuclei density in the medium is about ~ 1021 – 1022 n/cm3 and neutron density
in nuclear reactors is about 108 → we may not take into account the interaction
between neutrons
3. Since the average lifetime of a neutron generation in a medium, and even more
so the time of nuclear interaction, is by many orders of magnitude less than the
half-life of the neutron, then the neutron can be considered as a stable particle.
4. All functions describing the neutron field in the medium are statistical nature,
i.e. are the result of averaging for a large number of events.

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 Neutron density, neutron flux, neutron current

  a neutron field we mean a set of neutrons in a medium characterized by a

By
spatial distribution, energy, direction of movement at a given time.

A point particle in space at each moment of time is described by the following

set of phase variables: = (x, y, z) - radius vector describing the spatial position
of the neutron; ), = (φ, θ) Is the unit vector of the direction of the neutron (θ -
polar angle, φ - azimuth angle); E – energy of neutron.
Therefore, in the general case, the domain of definition of functions described
by the neutron field is a seven-dimensional phase space (, E, ,t)
Neutron density – expected number of neutrons located in phase volume at (, E, ,t) [

  n(, E, ,t) [1/(cm3·eV·sr)]

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 Neutron density, neutron flux, neutron current

 
Neutron flux – is the average statistical number of neutrons, the direction of the
velocity vector of which lies in a unit interval near the direction , the energy is in the
unit interval about E, and which in the unit time cross an imaginary unit area, located
placed in a neighborhood of the point in such a way that the unit the normal vector to
this area coincides with the direction of the vector neutron velocity

  Ф(, E, ,t) [1/(cm2·s·eV·sr)]

[1/(cm2·s·eV)]

[1/(cm2·s)]

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Neutron density, neutron flux, neutron current

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 Neutron density, neutron flux, neutron current

 
Neutron current – the average number of neutrons, the direction of the velocity vector
whose growth lies in a unit interval near the direction Ω r, the energy is in the unit
interval about E, which intersect per unit time, a unit area with the normal , located at
point . The neutron current density is always determined through a specific site
(surface), which emphasizes the which emphasizes the normal index n in the notation
  (, E, ,t) [1/(cm2·s·eV·sr)]

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Reaction rates

i – a,f,s…

  ()·

  ()·
…

The number of reactions of type i in volume ΔV per second

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Спасибо за внимание!

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