Talk:Neutron

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Neutron was a Natural sciences good articles nominee, but did not meet the good article criteria at the time. There may be suggestions below for improving the article. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
June 16, 2012	Good article nominee	Not listed

Archives: Index 1, 2, 3, 4

This page has archives. Sections older than 90 days may be automatically archived by when more than 4 sections are present.

Positron capture

I've been working on citations and find myself somewhat stymied for a citation on positron capture. Firstly, although the text in the article associated with the term seems to me correct, "positron capture" is mostly ignored by standard text and references, certainly insofar as giving the basic discussion given in the article. I find, e.g., online course pages with discussion of the reaction. This form of "beta decay" is certainly correct, but unobservable/non-existent in ordinary existence. However, it seems to play a non-negligible role in the stellar formation of the elements. See W.A. Fowler, "The quest for the origin of the Elements", Science, 226, Nov 23, 1984. Perhaps the topic is too far astray for this Neutron article and the whole thing should be removed. Requesting comment! Bdushaw (talk) 07:52, 9 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I looked around and also found little. It's possible that the positron-neutron reaction in stars has a different name. My suggestion is just to delete that sentence. If we find a source it can be added back. Johnjbarton (talk) 14:55, 9 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I've revised the paragraph, including the citation I gave above. I've removed much of the "improvisational" material. Keeping the mention of "positron" capture in stars supports the mention of nucleosynthesis in stars in the lead (which the article does not yet seem to mention!). Partly, I have a remote association with Fowler, who won the Nobel Prize... Bdushaw (talk) 20:22, 9 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Radius

Proton has a charge radius. Is the neutron radius also a charge radius (even though it is neutral overall) ? Can we link to how the radii are defined and measured or derived ? - Rod57 (talk) 11:40, 8 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Structure and geometry of charge distribution

The section "Structure and geometry of charge distribution" is based on a single primary source, one in a top journal and well cited to be sure. The abstract of the sources says:

We find that the neutron-parton charge density is negative at the center, so that the square of the transverse charge radius is positive, in contrast with many expectations.

That is, their findings are deeply technical. The review:

Gross, F., Klempt, E., Brodsky, S.J. et al. 50 Years of quantum chromodynamics. Eur. Phys. J. C 83, 1125 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-023-11949-2

mentions the Miller paper in a section "Theoretical interpretation of nucleon form factors". I don't believe either the primary source nor the review support the content we have in the article. Johnjbarton (talk) 04:15, 8 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Mess

This article has multiple off-topic and duplicate sections. I have started to migrate the common content to the same location and remove some of the stuff.

I'm thinking that a major section on Occurrence would help. This would include nucleus, free, neutron star (Neutron compounds would be subsumed). Then "Composition" for the current Standard Model and "Beta decay" as decomposition. The section "Nuclear energy" is off the mark, we need a discussion of the critical role of neutrons on fission. Johnjbarton (talk) 04:26, 8 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Praemonitus I cut back the intro after reorganizing the outline. Please check. Johnjbarton (talk) 23:41, 9 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]