Neutronium
Neutronium (or element zero) is a hypothetical element built solely from neutrons. The word was coined by scientist Andreas von Antropoff in 1926 for the hypothetical "element of atomic number zero" (with no protons in its nucleus) that he placed at the head of the periodic table (denoted by -).[1]
History
[edit]Ernest Rutherford proposed a hypothetical neutral particle in 1920, as combination of a proton and an electron with the atomic nucleus. The proposed particle would be discovered by James Chadwick in 1932, but the composition of this particle would ultimately found not to correspond to an electron plus a proton. In the intervening years the particle came to be called a neutron. a term invented in a 1926 paper by Andreas von Antropoff which also introduced the term neutronium. The work[2] by von Antropoff was on a new proposed form of the periodic table and included a conjectured element made up of neutrons with no protons or electrons, which he placed as the chemical element of atomic number zero at the head of his new version of the periodic table.[3] This neutronium was subsequently placed in the middle of several spiral representations of the periodic system for classifying the chemical elements, such as those of Charles Janet (1928), Edgar Emerson (1944),[4][5] and John D. Clark (1950). All of these authors believed neutronium would be a noble gas.[1]
Chemistry
[edit]Neutronium is considered by some chemists to be a legitimate element with atoms called neutrons, an element with no chemical properties whatsoever. Other chemists reject that point of view.[3]
Polynuclear particles
[edit]Some modern work considers the combination of multiple neutrons.[3] The dineutron, containing two neutrons, is not a stable bound particle, but an extremely short-lived resonance state produced by nuclear reactions in the decay of beryllium-16. Evidence reported in 2012 for the resonance[6][7] was disputed,[8] but new work reportedly clears up the issues.[9] A trineutron state consisting of three neutrons has not been detected, and is not expected to be bound.[10] A tetraneutron is a hypothetical particle consisting of four bound neutrons. Reports of its existence have not been replicated.[11][12] Calculations indicate that the hypothetical pentaneutron state, consisting of a cluster of five neutrons, would not be bound.[13]
Astrophysics
[edit]Neutronium is also names any substance composed solely of neutrons.[3] The cores of neutron stars consist largely of neutrons and might be considered an example of neutronium.[1] However, neutron stars have a complex layered structure, starting with neutron-rich nuclei like 56
Fe and progressing through a neutron fluid to a series of phases referred to as nuclear pasta.[14]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 Stewart, P. J. (2007). "A century on from Dmitrii Mendeleev: Tables and spirals, noble gases and Nobel prizes". Foundations of Chemistry. 9 (3): 235–245. doi:10.1007/s10698-007-9038-x. S2CID 97131841.
- ↑ von Antropoff, A. (1926). "Eine neue Form des periodischen Systems der Elemente". Zeitschrift für Angewandte Chemie (in German). 39 (23): 722–725. Bibcode:1926AngCh..39..722V. doi:10.1002/ange.19260392303. Primary source that coined neutronium.
- 1 2 3 4 Kohlmann, Holger (2026). "100 Years of Element Zero: Andreas von Antropoff's Neutronium and the Naming of the Neutron". Zeitschrift für anorganische und allgemeine Chemie. 652 (12) e70166. doi:10.1002/zaac.70166. ISSN 1521-3749.
- ↑ Emerson, Edgar I. (1944). "A new spiral form of the periodic table". Journal of Chemical Education. 21 (3): 111. Bibcode:1944JChEd..21..111E. doi:10.1021/ed021p111.
- ↑ Emerson, Edgar I. (1944). "A chart based on atomic numbers showing the electronic structure of the elements". Journal of Chemical Education. 21 (5): 254. Bibcode:1944JChEd..21..254E. doi:10.1021/ed021p254.
- ↑ Schirber, M. (2012). "Nuclei Emit Paired-up Neutrons". Physics. 5 30. Bibcode:2012PhyOJ...5...30S. doi:10.1103/Physics.5.30.
- ↑ Spyrou, A.; Kohley, Z.; Baumann, T.; Bazin, D.; et al. (2012). "First Observation of Ground State Dineutron Decay: 16Be". Physical Review Letters. 108 (10) 102501. Bibcode:2012PhRvL.108j2501S. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.102501. OSTI 1104191. PMID 22463404.
- ↑ Marqués, F. M., Orr, N. A., Achouri, N. L., Delaunay, F., & Gibelin, J. (2012). Comment on "First Observation of Ground State Dineutron Decay: Be 16". Physical Review Letters, 109(23), 239201.
- ↑ Monteagudo, B.; Marqués, F. M.; Gibelin, J.; Orr, N. A.; Corsi, A.; Kubota, Y.; Casal, J.; Gómez-Camacho, J.; Authelet, G.; Baba, H.; Caesar, C.; Calvet, D.; Delbart, A.; Dozono, M.; Feng, J. (2024-02-23). "Mass, Spectroscopy, and Two-Neutron Decay of $^{16}\mathrm{Be}$" (PDF). Physical Review Letters. 132 (8) 082501. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.082501. OSTI 2473832. PMID 38457706.
- ↑ Li, J. G.; Michel, N.; Hu, B. S.; Zuo, W.; Xu, F. R. (2019). "Ab initio no-core Gamow shell-model calculations of multineutron systems". Physical Review C. 100 (5) 054313. arXiv:1911.06485. Bibcode:2019PhRvC.100e4313L. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.100.054313.
- ↑ Bertulani, C. A.; Zelevinsky, V. (2003). "Is the tetraneutron a bound dineutron-dineutron molecule?". Journal of Physics G. 29 (10): 2431–2437. arXiv:nucl-th/0212060. Bibcode:2003JPhG...29.2431B. doi:10.1088/0954-3899/29/10/309. S2CID 55535943.
- ↑ "Tetra-Neutron Experiment: Understanding of Nuclear Forces Might Have To Be Significantly Changed". Archived 2021-12-13 at the Wayback Machine. SciTechDaily, December 12, 2021. Technical University of Munich (TUM)
- ↑ Bevelacqua, J. J. (1981). "Particle stability of the pentaneutron". Physics Letters B. 102 (2–3): 79–80. Bibcode:1981PhLB..102...79B. doi:10.1016/0370-2693(81)91033-9.
- ↑ Lattimer, J. M.; Prakash, M. (April 23, 2004). "The Physics of Neutron Stars". Science. 304 (5670): 536–542. doi:10.1126/science.1090720. ISSN 0036-8075.
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