Neutron Circuitry

[aerohead]

I started reading a book I find most interesting, describing the neutron's discovery and properties. Already I've found myself combining the ideas presented therein with previous knowledge, and I see a potential for the development of neutron circuitry. I do not claim that it would be easy, cheap, or useful, only that it should be possible. /ttiforum/images/graemlins/smile.gif

First we need a neutron source, which would probably be a reactor. Then we can polarize the neutron beam by passing it through magnetized iron or reflecting it at a shallow angle from a high quality neutron-reflecting mirror. The first "component" I recognized would be a sort of neutron transistor, composed simply of a block of iron placed between two coils of wire (essentially a solenoid). When the iron's magnetization is opposite that of the neutrons, the neutrons are transmitted through the block, and when the magnetizations are the same, the neutrons are not transmitted directly through (they're deflected at some angle, so shielding is needed). The switching speed would be limited by the hysteresis of the iron.

Of course, this is quite useless without wires to carry the neutron current. It turns out that we can use the same concept as fiber optics, except using neutrons instead of light. In this case, however, the higher index material will be the outer layer instead of the inner layer. So it would be a narrow hollow tube of a material which allows total internal reflection of neutrons at shallow angles of incidence.

I'm not sure of any practical use for this, and I may have overlooked things or gotten it absolutely wrong. Tell me what you think. /ttiforum/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Packerbacker]

I can't address your question, but I would like to add something parallel.

Much of our technology is based on electromagnetism--the negative electrical particle will easily move from place to place to facilitate circuitry.

With the CERN machine, and some others, one has not moving negative electrical charges, but moving positive charges. Might we call this proto-magnetism?

In electromagnetism, conceptually, there is a variation between negative and zero charge: electrons and absence of electrons. I can see that the absence of a negative can be zero or neutral. But positive? Relatively, yes. I sense there is something lurking in the shadows, here.