2002/03/04 by N. K. Timofeyuk, Timofeyuk, N. K.
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Nuclear Theory (nucl-th) #nucl-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.nucl-th/0203003
4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. C
arxiv created 2002/03/04 · arxiv updated 2016/09/07
Following recent work in which events which may correspond to a bound tetraneutron (4n) were observed, it is pointed out that from the theoretical perspective the two-body nucleon-nucleon force cannot by itself bind four neutrons, even if it can bind a dineutron. A very strong phenomenological four-nucleon (4N) force is needed in order to bind the tetraneutron. Such a 4N force, if it existed, would bind 4He by about 100 MeV. Alternative experiments such as (8He,4n) are proposed to search for the tetraneutron.