Measurement of relative differential cross sections of the neutron-deuteron elastic scattering for neutron energy from 13 to 52 MeV

The measurement of the relative differential cross sections of the neutron-deuteron ( n - d ) elastic scattering, i.e., the 2 H( n , el ) 2 H reaction, for 12 neutron energies from 13.56 MeV to 52.48 MeV has been carried out at the Back-n White Neutron Source of the China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS). By detection of the recoil deuterons using the light charged particle detector array (LPDA) system, the relative differential cross sections of the neutrons in the center-of-mass frame were obtained and then compared with previous measurements, the theoretical calculations performed using the Nijmegen I nucleon-nucleon potential in the Faddeev formalism, and the evaluated from libraries including the ENDF-B/VIII.0, JEFF-3.3, JENDL-4.0, CENDL-3.2, and FENDL-3.2. The present work was the first measurement relative differential cross sections of the n - d scattering for the 30 MeV < E n ≤ 60 MeV neutron energy range using a white neutron source.