Search for a New Internucleon Interaction Using Neutron Powder Diffraction

The application of neutron powder diffraction to search for a new internucleon Yukawa-like interaction is considered. The essence of the method is in the investigation of dependency of the neutron scattering amplitude on the momentum transfer. The possible contributions to the scattering amplitude and to the integrated intensity of diffraction maxima were analyzed. The neutron diffraction experiment with silicon powder at D20 diffractometer of the ILL reactor (Grenoble, France) was performed. From the data obtained constraints on the coupling constant of the considered interaction were made. It is shown that in the interaction radius range of λ = 10^–13–10^—11 m they improve the values already existing in the literature. The result obtained is limited by imperfections of the experimental setup. Eliminating the instrumental contribution may allow increasing the sensitivity of the method by at least an order of magnitude.