Statistical Model Calculations for (n,γ) Reactions

¹ Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556, USA
² ExtreMe Matter Institute EMMI, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Planckstraße 1, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany
³ Cyclotron Institute, Texas A & M University, Collage Station, Texas 77843, USA

^a e-mail: mbeard@nd.edu

Published online: 28 May 2015

Abstract

Hauser-Feshbach (HF) cross sections are of enormous importance for a wide range of applications, from waste transmutation and nuclear technologies, to medical applications, and nuclear astrophysics. It is a well-observed result that different nuclear input models sensitively affect HF cross section calculations. Less well known however are the effects on calculations originating from model-specific implementation details (such as level density parameter, matching energy, back-shift and giant dipole parameters), as well as effects from non-model aspects, such as experimental data truncation and transmission function energy binning. To investigate the effects or these various aspects, Maxwellian-averaged neutron capture cross sections have been calculated for approximately 340 nuclei. The relative effects of these model details will be discussed.