Neutron Structure Discovered: Study

Using precise data recently gathered at three different laboratories and some new theoretical tools, Gerald A. Miller, a UW physics professor, has found that the neutron has a negative charge both in its inner core and its outer edge, with a positive charge sandwiched in between to make the particle electrically neutral.

"Nobody realized this was the case," Miller said. "It is significant because it is a clear fact of nature that we didn't know before. Now we know it."

The discovery changes scientific understanding of how neutrons interact with negatively charged electrons and positively charged protons. Specifically, it has implications for understanding the strong force, one of the four fundamental forces of nature (the others are the weak force, electromagnetism and gravity).

The strong force binds atomic nuclei together, which makes it possible for atoms, the building blocks of all matter, to assemble into molecules.

"We have to understand exactly how the strong force works, because it is the strongest force we know in the universe," Miller said...

...It also could lend to greater understanding of the interactions
that take place in our sun's nuclear furnace, and a greater
understanding of the strong force in general, Miller said.

"We already know that without the strong force you wouldn't have atoms – or anything else that follows from atoms," he said.