Cross Sections

When a neutron strikes a nucleus, any of the reactions mentioned earlier

can take place. The probability of a particular reaction is expressed by a
parameter called “cross section”. The concept of cross section can be
𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒔
visualized as follows. Consider a beam of neutrons of intensity 𝑰
𝒄𝒎𝟐 −𝒔𝒆𝒄

striking a thin target plate of area 𝑨 𝒄𝒎𝟐 and a small thickness 𝒕 𝒄𝒎.
Assume that the thickness of the plate 𝒕 is so small that the beam
intensity 𝑰 is not altered as it goes through the plate.
 𝒕

𝑰 𝒏/(𝒄𝒎𝟐 − 𝒔𝒆𝒄)

𝑨𝒓𝒆𝒂 𝑨
𝒗 𝒄𝒎/𝒔𝒆𝒄

𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓
Beam of neutrons with intensity 𝑰 𝟐 with neutron speed 𝒗 𝒄𝒎/𝒔𝒆𝒄 striking a
𝒄𝒎 −𝒔𝒆𝒄

target plate of area A and thickness t, perpendicular to the beam.

Now each nucleus in the target plate presents a kind of cross sectional
area for interaction to the incoming neutrons. Let this area be 𝝈,
𝝈 so that if the beam neutron passes through this area 𝝈 it will

have an interaction with the nucleus, otherwise it will pass through

without an interaction with that nucleus. If the total area of the plate
where the beam is incident is A, then the probability that a given neutron
𝝈
in the beam will pass through area 𝝈 is . Now let 𝒏 be the number
𝑨

density of neutrons in the beam, i.e., 𝒏 𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒔/𝒄𝒎𝟑 and 𝒗 𝒄𝒎/𝒔𝒆𝒄 is

the uniform speed of neutrons in the beam. Then the relation between
the beam intensity I, the number density n and the speed v is

𝑰 = 𝒏𝒗 (𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆)

𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒔
Now if N is the number density of target nuclei in the plate, (𝑵 )
𝒄𝒎𝟑

then the total number of target nuclei present in the plate is 𝑵 × 𝑨 × 𝒕. If

the beam is totally covering the plate, then the number of neutrons
crossing the plate (of area A) per unit time is 𝑰𝑨 = 𝒏𝒗𝑨. Then the total
number of interactions in the plate per unit time is simply
 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝝈
= 𝑰𝑨 × × 𝑵×𝑨 ×𝒕
𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑨
= 𝑰 × 𝝈 × 𝑵 × 𝑨 × 𝒕 = 𝑰 × 𝝈 × 𝑵 × (𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆)

𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔
∴ =𝑰×𝝈×𝑵
𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 × 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒎𝟑 − 𝒔𝒆𝒄

The above quantity 𝑰 × 𝝈 × 𝑵 is known as the interaction rate. Here I is

𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓
the beam intensity , 𝝈 is the cross section (𝒄𝒎𝟐 ) and N is the
𝒄𝒎𝟐 −𝒔𝒆𝒄

𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒔
number density of target nuclei in the plate .
𝒄𝒎𝟑
The cross section 𝝈 being the area has the units 𝒄𝒎𝟐 . However, the
value of 𝝈 is generally very small and a new unit is defined, “barn”
defined as 𝟏 𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒏 ≡ 𝟏𝟎−𝟐𝟒 𝒄𝒎𝟐 . The quantity N (the number density of
target atoms) occurs frequently in the calculations. It is obtained as

𝝆×𝑵𝑨𝒗
𝑵= (𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓/𝒄𝒎𝟑 )
𝑨

where 𝝆 is the material density of the target 𝒈𝒎/𝒄𝒎𝟑 ; 𝑵𝑨𝒗 is the

Avogadro number 𝟔. 𝟎𝟐𝟐 × 𝟏𝟎𝟐𝟑 (𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓/𝒈𝒎 −𝒎𝒐𝒍𝒆) and A is the
atomic mass number (𝒈𝒎/𝒈𝒎 − 𝒎𝒐𝒍𝒆).
Now 𝝈 which appears in the equation can refer to any interaction among
those listed earlier. For any particular interaction, say, scattering or
capture, etc. we have to use 𝝈 for that interaction, i.e., 𝝈𝒔 or 𝝈𝜸 , etc. for
scattering or capture, respectively. If we want to determine the total
interaction rate due to any interaction, then the corresponding 𝝈 is
called 𝝈𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 or 𝝈𝒕 . Since all reactions are independent processes, then
the probabilities are simply additive, i.e.,
𝝈𝒕 = 𝝈𝒔 + 𝝈𝒔′ + 𝝈𝜸 + ⋯ + 𝝈𝒇

where different 𝝈’s are for different processes. Now each 𝝈 depends on
two parameters; (i) the property of the target nucleus and (ii) the kinetic
energy of the neutron striking the nucleus. The product N and 𝝈 appear
frequently in equations. Hence a new quantity 𝚺 is defined as follows.
𝚺 = 𝑵 × 𝝈 (𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒔 − 𝒄𝒎−𝟏 )

The cross section 𝝈 is called the “microscopic cross section” and the
corresponding 𝚺 is called the “macroscopic cross section”. Thus, if we
multiply the previous equation by the target number density N we obtain

𝚺𝒕 = 𝚺𝒔 + 𝚺𝒔′ + 𝚺𝜸 + ⋯ + 𝚺𝒇 and so on.

The quantity 𝚺 also has another physical significance.

 Physical Significance of 𝚺

We have obtained the interaction rate at any point in the medium with
the macroscopic cross section 𝚺 where a neutron beam of intensity I is
incident as 𝑰𝒏𝒕. 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒆 = 𝑰 × 𝚺. So far we have considered a thin plate
where the beam was incident. Now consider a thick target plate of finite
thickness 𝑻. We can now no longer assume that the beam intensity will
remain constant as it traverses through the plate. So, first we determine
how does I change with thickness of the plate, or the position 𝒙 from
the leading edge of the plate.
 𝑻

𝑰𝟎
𝒅𝒙

𝑰(𝒙)

𝒙=𝟎 𝒙

Consider a position 𝒙 from the leading edge of the plate 𝒙 = 𝟎. Let the
beam intensity at this position be 𝑰(𝒙). The interaction rate at this point
 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔
will be 𝑰 𝒙 𝚺 𝟑 . If the neutron speed is constant v 𝒄𝒎/𝒔𝒆𝒄,
𝒄𝒎 −𝒔𝒆𝒄
then in time element 𝒅𝒕 the beam neutrons would travel a distance
equal to 𝒅𝒙 = 𝒗 𝒅𝒕. Also in this time 𝒅𝒕 the interactions per unit volume
would be 𝑰 𝒙 𝚺 𝒅𝒕. Since these many interactions have taken place that
many neutrons would be removed from the beam (note even a
scattering interaction removes the neutron from the original beam as it
gets deflected to another direction). Then the number of neutrons per
unit volume in the beam gets reduced by that much, i.e.,

𝒅𝒙
𝒅𝒏 = −𝑰 𝒙 𝚺 𝒅𝒕 = −𝑰 𝒙 𝚺
𝒗
A change of 𝒅𝒏 in the number density of neutrons in the beam leads to a
change in the beam intensity 𝒅𝑰 = 𝒗 𝒅𝒏 since the neutron speed 𝒗 is
constant. Thus, we can rewrite the previous equation as
𝒅𝑰 = 𝒗 𝒅𝒏 = −𝑰 𝒙 𝚺 𝒅𝒙

Dividing both sides by 𝒅𝒙 we obtain the differential equation for 𝑰 𝒙 as

𝒅𝑰
= −𝑰 𝒙 𝚺
𝒅𝒙

This equation can be integrated from 𝒙 = 𝟎 with 𝑰 𝟎 = 𝑰𝟎 to any 𝒙 as

𝑰 𝒙 = 𝑰𝟎 𝒆−𝚺𝒙
Here 𝑰𝟎 is the initial beam intensity at 𝒙 = 𝟎 and 𝒆−𝚺𝒙 is called the
“attenuation factor”. Now, we can attempt to find the mean (average)
distance travelled by neutron before it suffers the first collision.

Mean Free Path

The procedure of finding the “mean free path” is similar to finding the
mean life of a radioactive isotope, except the time coordinate is replaced
by the distance coordinate 𝒙 and the decay process is replaced by the
removal of neutrons from the beam due to the collision with the target
nuclei of the plate. If a neutron is incident on a target plate, then the
probability of having its first interaction exactly at distance 𝒙 from the
entrance (within a thin slice 𝒅𝒙), i.e., between 𝒙 and 𝒙 + 𝒅𝒙 is the
product of two probabilities, the probability of its surviving up to 𝒙 and the
probability of its having the interaction within 𝒅𝒙.

𝒏(𝒙) 𝑰(𝒙)
The probability of survival till 𝒙 is 𝒑𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗 𝒖𝒑𝒕𝒐 𝒙 𝒙 = = = 𝒆−𝚺𝒙
𝒏𝟎 𝑰𝟎

𝒅𝑰
The probability of interaction within 𝒅𝒙 is 𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒙 = = 𝚺 𝒅𝒙
𝑰(𝒙)

Then the required probability distribution is 𝒑 𝒙 𝒅𝒙 = 𝒆−𝚺𝒙 𝚺 𝒅𝒙

Then the mean value of 𝒙, i.e., the mean distance travelled by neutron
before having its first collision in the medium is
∞ ∞ ∞
𝟏
ഥ = න 𝒙 𝒑 𝒙 𝒅𝒙 = න 𝒙 𝒆−𝚺𝒙 𝚺𝒅𝒙 = න 𝒚 𝒆−𝒚 𝒅𝒚; (𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝒚 = 𝚺𝒙)
𝒙
𝟎 𝟎 𝚺 𝟎

Note that the limits on the integral are 𝟎 and ∞ assuming the plate to be
of infinite thickness, and the fact that in theory the interaction can take
place at any distance from the entrance. Evaluation the integral, we get

𝟏
ഥ = = 𝚺 −𝟏 𝒄𝒎 ; (𝑖𝑓 𝜮 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝒄𝒎−𝟏 )
𝑴𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒙
𝚺
Here 𝚺 refers to the total cross section, i.e., 𝚺𝒕 .
Macroscopic Cross Sections for Mixtures of Nuclides and Molecules

We often come across a medium containing a homogeneous mixture of

several nuclides or molecules having several atoms. In such cases, we
can obtain the macroscopic cross section of the mixture as follows. If 𝑵𝒊 is
the number density (𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒔/𝒄𝒎𝟑 ) of the 𝒊𝒕𝒉 nuclide in the mixture having
the microscopic cross section 𝝈𝒊 then the overall macroscopic cross
section is simply 𝚺 = σ𝑵
𝒊=𝟏 𝑵𝒊 𝝈𝒊 . For example, if M is the molecular

density (𝒎𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒔/𝒄𝒎𝟑 ) of the 𝑯𝟐 𝑶 molecules, then we have

𝚺𝑯𝟐 𝑶 = 𝟐𝑴 𝝈𝑯 + 𝑴 𝝈𝒐