Neutron refractive index of liquid mixtures in the critical region

Size effects in neutron optics of mesoscale liquid mixtures in the critical region are studied. It is shown that the Schrödinger equation for the neutron wave function can be presented as the corresponding electrodynamical wave equation with the Fermi pseudopotential for a binary liquid mixture taken into account. Formulae for the neutron refractive index of bulk and confined liquid mixtures are derived and discussed. As an example, numerical calculations for a mixture of ethane and carbon dioxide C2H6-CO2 are presented, which illustrates a good agreement between experimental and theoretical data.