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Register a new userApplicability Of The Hauser-Feshbach Approach For The Determination of Astrophysical Reaction Rates
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T. Rauscher Univ.n Basel
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Nuclear Astrophysics requires the knowledge of reaction rates over a wide range of nuclei and temperatures. In recent calculations the nuclear level density - as an important ingredient to the statistical model (Hauser-Feshbach) - has shown the highest uncertainties. In a back-shifted Fermi-gas formalism utilizing an energy-dependent level density parameter and employing microscopic corrections from a recent FRDM mass formula, we obtain a highly improved fit to experimental level densities. The resulting level density is used for determining criteria for the applicability of the statistical model on neutron-induced reactions.
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Nuclear reaction rates of astrophysical applications are traditionally determined on the basis of Hauser-Feshbach reaction codes. These codes adopt a number of approximations that have never been tested, such as a simplified width fluctuation correction, the neglect of delayed or multiple-particle emission during the electromagnetic decay cascade, or the absence of the pre-equilibrium contribution at increasing incident energies. The reaction code TALYS has been recently updated to estimate the Maxwellian-averaged reaction rates that are of astrophysical relevance. These new developments enable the reaction rates to be calculated with increased accuracy and reliability and the approximations of previous codes to be investigated. The TALYS predictions for the thermonuclear rates of relevance to astrophysics are detailed and compared with those derived by widely-used codes for the same nuclear ingredients. It is shown that TALYS predictions may differ significantly from those of previous codes, in particular for nuclei for which no or little nuclear data is available. The pre-equilibrium process is shown to influence the astrophysics rates of exotic neutron-rich nuclei significantly. For the first time, the Maxwellian-averaged (n,2n) reaction rate is calculated for all nuclei and its competition with the radiative capture rate is discussed. The TALYS code provides a new tool to estimate all nuclear reaction rates of relevance to astrophysics with improved accuracy and reliability.
The majority of nuclear reactions in astrophysics involve unstable nuclei which are not fully accessible by experiments yet. Therefore, there is high demand for reliable predictions of cross sections and reaction rates by theoretical means. The majority of reactions can be treated in the framework of the statistical model (Hauser-Feshbach). The global parametrizations of the nuclear properties needed for predictions far off stability probe our understanding of the strong force and take it to its limit. The sensitivity of astrophysical scenarios to nuclear inputs is illustrated in the framework of a detailed nucleosynthesis study in type II supernovae. Abundances resulting from calculations in the same explosion model with two different sets of reaction rates are compared. Key reactions and required nuclear information are identified.
The Hauser-Feshbach fission fragment decay model, $mathtt{HF^3D}$, which calculates the statistical decay of fission fragments, has been expanded to include multi-chance fission, up to neutron incident energies of 20 MeV. The deterministic decay takes as input pre-scission quantities - fission probabilities and the average energy causing fission - and post-scission quantities - yields in mass, charge, total kinetic energy, spin, and parity. From these fission fragment initial conditions, the full decay is followed through both prompt and delayed particle emissions, allowing for the calculation of prompt neutron and $gamma$ properties, such as multiplicity and energy distributions, both independent and cumulative fission yields, and delayed neutron observables. In this work, we describe the implementation of multi-chance fission into the $mathtt{HF^3D}$ model, and show an example of prompt and delayed quantities beyond first-chance fission, using the example of neutron-induced fission on $^{235}$U. This expansion represents significant progress in consistently modeling the emission of prompt and delayed particles from fissile systems.
Modern models of s-process nucleosynthesis in stars require stellar reaction rates with high precision. Most of the neutron capture cross sections in the s-process have been measured and for an increasing number of reactions the required precision is achieved. This does not necessarily mean, however, that the stellar rates are constrained equally well because only capture on the ground state of a target is measured in the laboratory. Captures on excited states can considerably contribute to stellar rates already at typical s-process temperatures. We show that the ground state contribution X to a stellar rate is the relevant measure to identify reactions which are or could be well constrained by experiments and apply it to (n,gamma) reactions in the s-process. It is further shown that the maximally possible reduction in uncertainty of a rate through determination of the g.s. cross section is directly given by X. An error analysis of X is presented and it is found that X is a robust measure with overall small uncertainties. Several specific examples (neutron capture on 79Se, 95Zr, 121Sn, 187Os, and 193Pt) are discussed in detail. The ground state contributions for a set of 411 neutron capture reactions around the s-process path are presented in a table. This allows to identify reactions which may be better constrained by experiments and such which cannot be constrained by only measuring ground state cross sections (and thus require supplementary studies). General trends and implications are discussed.
The $ u p$ process appears in proton-rich, hot matter which is expanding in a neutrino wind and may be realised in explosive environments such as core-collapse supernovae or in outflows from accretion disks. The impact of uncertainties in nuclear reaction cross sections on the finally produced abundances has been studied by applying Monte Carlo variation of all astrophysical reaction rates in a large reaction network. As the detailed astrophysical conditions of the $ u p$ process still are unknown, a parameter study was performed, with 23 trajectories covering a large range of entropies and $Y_mathrm{e}$. The resulting abundance uncertainties are given for each trajectory. The $ u p$ process has been speculated to contribute to the light $p$ nuclides but it was not possible so far to reproduce the solar isotope ratios. It is found that it is possible to reproduce the solar $^{92}$Mo/$^{94}$Mo abundance ratio within nuclear uncertainties, even within a single trajectory. The solar values of the abundances in the Kr-Sr region relative to the Mo region, however, cannot be achieved within a single trajectory. They may still be obtained from a weighted superposition of different trajectories, though, depending on the actual conditions in the production site. For a stronger constraint of the required conditions, it would be necessary to reduce the uncertainties in the 3$alpha$ and $^{56}$Ni(n,p)$^{56}$Co rates at temperatures $T>3$ GK.
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