Physicists have for the first time unambiguously detected and measured the rates of certain rare reactions among protons, neutrons, and simple atomic nuclei, possibly opening a novel window onto the deepest nature of matter.
At Canada’s national TRIUMF cyclotron in Vancouver, British Columbia, researchers have observed unusual particle trajectories following proton-neutron collisions. At the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility in Bloomington, another team has studied never-before-detected fusions of deuterium nuclei, which contain one proton and one neutron.