The Interaction Between a Neutron and a Proton and the Structure of H**3
Jun, 1935Citations per year
Abstract: (APS)
Suppose that the interaction between a neutron and a proton depends on their distance apart so as to be negligible above a certain small distance a, and yet is responsible for the mass defect of H2. Suppose further that the interaction between two neutrons and a proton may be compounded in the usual way from that between a neutron and a proton, the interaction between two neutrons being neglected, while there is no prohibition of a wave function symmetrical in the positions of two neutrons. Then it is shown that the mass defect of H3 is made arbitrarily large by taking a small enough. The observed mass defect of H3 thus provides, on the above assumptions, a lower limit for a; and in particular rules out the possibility that the interaction may be regarded as arising from a singularity in configuration space. We conclude, in effect, that: either two neutrons repel one another by an amount not negligible compared with the attraction between a neutron and a proton; or that the wave function cannot be symmetrical in their positions; or else that the interaction between a neutron and a proton is not confined within a relative distance very small compared with 10−13 cm1.References(3)
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