Fundamentals of neutron waveguides: a proposal for slow neutron beams confinement and applications

Abstract

Neutron optics is the branch of quantum physics devoted to the study of the optical properties of slow neutrons and their behavior as wave-particles. Slow neutrons beams (with typical energy the order of 0.025 eV, known as thermal neutrons, and also smaller) can propagate confined in guides of various transverse dimensions, longitude and geometries, under total internal reflection conditions, like in the case of classical optical waveguides. We study the properties and possible applications of neutron waveguides with small transverse dimensions. In particular, we have implemented a new algorithm to simulate neutron beams as they are confined in particular waveguides. The results, obtained from a new analytical formalism, are compared with standard numerical methods as the FDTD and, then, enhance the feasibility for recreating the beam structure as the later propagates inside the waveguide.