Coherence approach to neutron polarization propagation in instruments

The propagation of the mutual coherence function is a well known method to describe the effects of neutron’s propagation through scattering instruments. This method is extended with the description of the coherence matrix to account for neutron polarization effects and its propagation through an instrument. A propagation law for the coherence matrix and the condition under which it can be used is derived. A rigorous description of polarization analysis is given. The phase-object approximation to describe small angle neutron scattering is extended to incorporate scattering in magnetic materials. The developed theory is applied to spin echo small angle neutron scattering and the neutron depolarization technique.Radiation, Radionuclides and ReactorsApplied Science