Neutronium
Neutronium is a hypothetical form of matter that consists only of neutrons and whose density is comparable to that of atomic nuclei .
The term was coined in 1926 by the chemist Andreas von Antropoff , before the discovery of the neutron, to name a hypothetical chemical element with the atomic number 0, which he placed at the top of the periodic table . The term was subsequently used more frequently in science fiction literature . After the discovery of the neutron stars , which consist mainly of degenerate neutrons and actually have the density of atomic nuclei, their state of matter was sometimes referred to in science as neutronium.
Occasionally there have been scientific reports that, in addition to free neutrons, there are also short-lived bound neutrons under approximately normal conditions, at least as an intermediate stage of nuclear reactions :
- the dineutron composed of two neutrons
- the tetraneutron consisting of four neutrons and
- more neutrons cluster .
Such experiments could never be confirmed, however, and calculations show that these neutron clusters - like the pentane neutron consisting of 5 neutrons - do not have a bound state and therefore do not exist.
Individual evidence
- ↑ A. von Antropoff: A new form of the periodic system of the elements. . In: Z. Angew. Chem. . 39, No. 23, 1926, pp. 722-725. doi : 10.1002 / anie.19260392303 .
- ↑ Philip J. Stewart: A century on from Dmitrii Mendeleev: tables and spirals, noble gases and Nobel prizes . In: Foundations of Chemistry . 9, No. 3, October 2007, pp. 235–245. doi : 10.1007 / s10698-007-9038-x .
- ↑ JJ Bevelacqua: Particle stability of the pentaneutron . In: Physics Letters B . 102, No. 2-3, 1981, pp. 79-80. doi : 10.1016 / 0370-2693 (81) 91033-9 .