Statistical (n, [Formula: see text] ) cross section model comparison for short-lived nuclei

R Lewis; A Couture; S N Liddick; A Spyrou; D L Bleuel; L Crespo Campo; B P Crider; A C Dombos; M Guttormsen; T Kawano; A C Larsen; A M Lewis; S Mosby; G Perdikakis; C J Prokop; S J Quinn; T Renstrøm; S Siem

doi:10.1140/epja/s10050-023-00920-0

Statistical (n, $γ$ ) cross section model comparison for short-lived nuclei

Eur Phys J A Hadron Nucl. 2023;59(3):42. doi: 10.1140/epja/s10050-023-00920-0. Epub 2023 Mar 9.

Authors

R Lewis^{1

2

3}, A Couture⁴, S N Liddick^{1

2}, A Spyrou^{1

5

6}, D L Bleuel⁷, L Crespo Campo⁸, B P Crider^{1

5}, A C Dombos^{1

5

6}, M Guttormsen⁸, T Kawano⁴, A C Larsen⁸, A M Lewis^{9

10}, S Mosby⁴, G Perdikakis^{1

6

11}, C J Prokop^{1

2}, S J Quinn^{1

5

6}, T Renstrøm⁸, S Siem⁸

Affiliations

¹ National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 USA.
² Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 USA.
³ Present Address: Zeno Power Systems, Inc., Washington, DC USA.
⁴ Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 USA.
⁵ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 USA.
⁶ Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 USA.
⁷ Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550 USA.
⁸ Department of Physics, University of Oslo, 0316 Oslo, Norway.
⁹ Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA.
¹⁰ Present Address: Naval Nuclear Laboratory, New York, USA.
¹¹ Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859 USA.

Abstract

Neutron-capture cross sections of neutron-rich nuclei are calculated using a Hauser-Feshbach model when direct experimental cross sections cannot be obtained. A number of codes to perform these calculations exist, and each makes different assumptions about the underlying nuclear physics. We investigated the systematic uncertainty associated with the choice of Hauser-Feshbach code used to calculate the neutron-capture cross section of a short-lived nucleus. The neutron-capture cross section for $^{73} Zn$ (n, $γ$ ) $^{74} Zn$ was calculated using three Hauser-Feshbach statistical model codes: TALYS, CoH, and EMPIRE. The calculation was first performed without any changes to the default settings in each code. Then an experimentally obtained nuclear level density (NLD) and $γ$ -ray strength function ( $γ SF$ ) were included. Finally, the nuclear structure information was made consistent across the codes. The neutron-capture cross sections obtained from the three codes are in good agreement after including the experimentally obtained NLD and $γ SF$ , accounting for differences in the underlying nuclear reaction models, and enforcing consistent approximations for unknown nuclear data. It is possible to use consistent inputs and nuclear physics to reduce the differences in the calculated neutron-capture cross section from different Hauser-Feshbach codes. However, ensuring the treatment of the input of experimental data and other nuclear physics are similar across multiple codes requires a careful investigation. For this reason, more complete documentation of the inputs and physics chosen is important.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1140/epja/s10050-023-00920-0.