ABSTRACT
This chapter provides some alternative tools to explore new theoretical routes in neutron optics at the computational level. Specifically, the chapter deals with the numerical modeling of the dynamics involved in neutron diffraction and interference. This is done at a phenomenological level, i.e., leaving aside specific aspects of the potential functions mediating the interaction between the neutrons and the diffracting boundaries, and putting the emphasis on the numerics. In particular, what is here emphasized is the description of the neutron flow in terms of streamlines by virtue of the hydrodynamic or Bohmian formulation of quantum mechanics. To this end, the chapter has been prepared in way that can help the reader to acquire some skills and put them at work on the myriad of problems within the realm of neutron optics. As it also happens with the theoretical techniques so far developed and used in neutron optics, the computational tools here proposed are not new as such, because they have been in use for a while in other fields of physics. However, they can be of much interest in the field for the different viewpoint they may provide on the problems investigated.
