In reply to Eric Walker's message of Wed, 9 Dec 2015 21:50:31 -0600: Hi, [snip] >On Wed, Dec 9, 2015 at 9:00 PM, <mix...@bigpond.com> wrote: > >The nuclear force is very short range. > > >Here is where I'm inclined to part with conventional wisdom. Consider that >1 barn is the approximate area of a medium-sized nucleus presented to an >oncoming neutron, that nuclei such as 135Xe have neutron-capture cross >sections of 1e6 barns, and that with a neutron the Coulomb interaction is >not involved. It seems to me that the nuclear force must be working at >longer distance than the usual 1 fm that is mentioned. Perhaps a more >nuanced analysis would show that it works on very fast nuclei at short >distances and on slower-moving nuclei at longer distances. > >Eric
Interesting that you mention this. It brings to mind the theory of CC (kicked off the list), where the force between like charged particles reverses when they are separated by less than their De Broglie wavelength in the center of mass frame. The implication being that as particles go slower, their De Broglie wavelength increases, thus so does the distance at which the force reversal applies. This looks a lot like the increase in cross section for slower neutrons. (Assuming that neutrons comprise charged particles.) Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html
