Attosecond Effects in Scattering of Neutrons and Electrons from Protons

Abstract

Application of the neutron Compton scattering (NCS) technique — which operates in the sub-femtosecond timescale — to various materials yields results which indicate the presence of short-lived quantum entanglement between protons and electrons, and reveals novel aspects of attosecond dynamics of chemical bonds, e.g., breaking of covalent C - H bonds. The following striking phenomenon has been revealed: the scattering intensity from H is anomalously decreased — about 20 – 30% of the protons (H-atoms) seem to “disappear”. Here we present experimental results from water and H₂O - D₂O mixtures, liquid benzene, amphiphiles (2-isobutoxyethanol dissolved in D₂O), liquid hydrogen and H₂ - D₂ mixtures, and a solid polymer (formvar). Very recently this phenomenon has been confirmed with an independent method: electron Compton scattering from nuclei (ECS). Comparative NCS and ECS results from formvar are presented.