Direct observation of three-neutron emission from 7 He * and the search for the trineutron
Three-neutron emission from He7 has been directly measured for the first time, following neutron knockout from a He8 beam at 156 MeV/nucleon. A resonancelike structure at 2.08(4) MeV above the He4+3n threshold [Ex=2.68(4) MeV] with a width of 3.9(2) MeV was observed and deduced to arise predominately from the predicted Jπ=3/22− level. The three-neutron invariant-mass spectrum was reconstructed and found to peak at around 1 MeV and could, through complete simulations incorporating neutron-neutron correlations, be very well described by the sequential decay of He*7 via the 21+ excited state of He6. No evidence was found for any significant three-neutron correlations beyond those expected from well-established two-body interactions, including a trineutron resonance.
Authors
- Y. Kubota
- T. Uesaka
- H. Otsu
- N. L. Achouri
- L. Zanetti
- N. A. Orr
- M. Caamaño
- D. S. Ahn
- H. Yamada
- F. M. Marqués
- M. Yasuda
- U. Forsberg
- V. Wagner
- A. Revel
- A. Anne
- N. Kalantar-Nayestanaki
- L. Stuhl
- T. Isobe
- I. Murray
- S. Masuoka
- D. Koerper
- C. Lenain
- T. Fujino
- B. Fernández-Domínguez
- M. L. Cortés
- C. A. Douma
- K. Boretzky
- M. Miwa
- J. M. Gheller
- T. K. M. Nakamura
- D. Symochko
- V. Panin
- K. Wimmer
- Z. Halász
- T. Harada
- Z. Elekes
- H. Sato
- S. Shimoura
- M. Böhmer
- S. Paschalis
- M. N. Harakeh
- K. Yoneda
- S. Kiyotake
- E. Tronchin
- P. Doornenbal
- Y. Togano
- I. Stefan
- D. Cortina
- A. Hirayama
- F. Dufter
- A. T. Saito
- S. H. Chen
- D. Beaumel
- T. Aumann
- J. Gibelin
- M. Sasano
- Z. Ge
- T. Kobayashi
- D. Rossi
- F. Schindler
- S. Reichert
- H. Baba
- S. Storck
- M. Matsumoto
- H. Suzuki
- H. Simon
- M. Parlog
- S. Takeuchi
- Y. Shimizu
- N. Chiga
- J. Tanaka
- H. Miki
- J. R. René Mayer
- T. Shimada
- I. Gašparić
- N. Michel
- J. Kahlbow
- T. Tomai
- H. Scheit
- N. Inabe
- J. Zenihiro
- A. Gillibert
- J. Tscheuschner
- Y. Kondo
- A. Matta
- R. Gernhäuser
- C. Lehr
- P. Koseoglou
- A. Obertelli
- I. Kuti
- M. Potlog
- H. T. Törnqvist
- B. Monteagudo
- Y. Maeda
- H. Takeda
- N. Fukuda
Publication Details
- Journal
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York)
- Published
- 2026-04-01
- Primary Topic
- Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Research Foundation
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- National Research Foundation of Korea
- Hrvatska Zaklada za Znanost
- Technische Universität Darmstadt
- Peking University
- Institute for Basic Science
- Helmholtz International Center for FAIR
- Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea
- Science and Technology Facilities Council
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- RIKEN
- State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, Peking University
- Nuclear Physics