Energieverteilung von in flüssigem Methan gestreuten kalten Neutronen

The interaction between CH₄ molecules shall be studied by neutron spectroscopic measurements for different phases of the substance. In a first investigation the molecular rotations are found to be completely free in the liquid state. A symmetrical splitting of the level L=1 is observed. A comparison of the experimental results with transition probabilities calculated only from degrees of degeneracy gives good agreement for transitions ΔL≧2 and for those transitions ΔL=1 which have L≧2 as the initial state. These transitions, therefore, appear to be rather independent of L. The experiments indicate futhermore, that also with respect to their translational motions the molecules behave like in a gas.