Polarizability of the Neutron

Abstract

Experiments on scattering of low-energy neutrons by heavy elements may give information concerning the electric polarizability of the neutron. The relation of the electric polarizability to the low-energy neutron scattering data is developed. One pertinent experiment is discussed and from this an upper bound on the polarizability is obtained. This upper bound to the polarizability $\alpha$ is an order of magnitude larger than the meson-theoretic estimate of $\alpha$. If the value of $\alpha$ is as small as is predicted by meson theory, or by an analysis of the pion photoproduction data, then it is unlikely to be observed in neutron scattering experiments of the presently achievable accuracy.