corner
corner

Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 057403 (2003) [4 pages]

Comparison of Electron and Neutron Compton Scattering from Entangled Protons in a Solid Polymer

Download: PDF (142 kB) Buy this article Export: BibTeX or EndNote (RIS)

C. A. Chatzidimitriou-Dreismann1,*, M. Vos2,†, C. Kleiner1, and T. Abdul-Redah3,4,‡
1Institute of Chemistry, Stranski-Laboratory, Technical University of Berlin, Strasse des 17. Juni 112, D-10623 Berlin, Germany
2Atomic and Molecular Physics Laboratories, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia
3Physics Laboratory, The University of Kent at Canterbury, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NR, United Kingdom
4ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, United Kingdom

Received 17 January 2003; published 1 August 2003

We present, for the first time, a direct comparison between electron (ECS) and neutron (NCS) Compton scattering results from protons of a solid polymer. The momentum distributions of hydrogen obtained from ECS and NCS are in excellent agreement. In both experiments, a strong “anomalous” shortfall in the scattering intensity of protons {first detected in liquid water with NCS [ C. A. Chatzidimitriou-Dreismann et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 79 2839 (1997)]} is found ranging from about 20% up to 50%, depending on the momentum transfer applied. The characteristic times of electron- and neutron-proton collisions lie in the subfemtosecond range. The presented ECS and NCS results provide further direct evidence for this striking effect, which has been ascribed to attosecond quantum entanglement of the protons.

© 2003 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.057403
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.057403
PACS:
78.70.–g, 03.65.Ud, 61.12.–q, 61.14.–x

*Electronic address: dreismann@chem.tu-berlin.de

Electronic address: maarten.vos@rsphysse.anu.edu.au

Electronic address: t.abdul-redah@rl.ac.uk