A simple neutron scattering study of proton motion in methyl compounds

Abstract

The scattering cross section of slow neutrons for a proton in low-temperature hydrogenous solids is simply related to the frequency of molecular motion divided by the incident neutron energy and the effective mass of the proton. Experiments applied to solid o-xylene and mesitylene give satisfactory results, showing great differences in the dynamics of the methyl groups in these materials.