More About Total Scattering Cross-Sections and a Related Common Misconception

Abstract

In the January/February/March 2007 issue of Neutron News, John Copley [1] makes a number of interesting observations concerning the total scattering cross-section, σ^s, including the important fact that σ^s is not simply the sum of the bound atom cross-sections of the constituent elements, weighted according to the chemical composition. As he points out, the detailed wavelength/energy dependence of σ^s in the thermal and epithermal regions depends on the structure of the material in question, i.e., that σ ^s contains structural information.