Neutron
Neutron stars and neutron matter
The extreme pressure inside a neutron star may deform the neutrons into a cubic symmetry, allowing tighter packing of neutrons.
Composition
The decay of the proton to a neutron occurs similarly through the weak force. The decay of one of the proton's up quarks into a down quark can be achieved by the emission of a W boson. The proton decays into a neutron, a positron, and an electron neutrino. This reaction can only occur within an atomic nucleus which has a quantum state at lower energy available for the created neutron.
Mass
The energy of the gamma ray can be measured to high precision by X-ray diffraction techniques, as was first done by Bell and Elliot in 1948. The best modern (1986) values for neutron mass by this technique are provided by Greene, et al. These give a neutron mass of:
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