Neutron Compton scattering from water studied with the double-difference technique

A shortfall of the scattering intensity from protons has been observed in liquids (water, benzene, etc.) and solids (metal hydrogen systems, organic polymers, etc.) using neutron Compton scattering (NCS). The standard analysis of NCS data has been subject to severe criticism, e.g., it was claimed that it is the way the energy resolution function is incorporated in the data reduction scheme that leads to an underestimation of the scattering intensity. Here we present NCS experimental results utilizing a technique--referred to as double difference--which significantly improves the energy resolution function. Specifically, the ratio of the scattering cross-section density of H and D in mixtures of light and heavy water are presented. The experimental data reveal that the results published earlier remain unchanged upon the significant improvement of the energy resolution function