We investigated the probability distribution of the thermal neutron capture cross section ($sigma_{th}$) deduced stochastically with the resonance parameters randomly sampled from Wigner and Porter-Thomas distributions. We found that the typical probability distribution has an asymmetric shape. While there is a long tail on the large $sigma_{th}$ side due to a resonance happening to be close to the thermal energy, the multi-resonance contribution considerably reduces the probability on the small $sigma_{th}$ side. We also found that the probability distributions have a similar shape if nuclei have an average resonance spacing sufficiently larger than an average radiation width. We compared the typical probability distribution with the distribution of the experimental values of 193 nuclei, and found a good agreement between them.
50% of the heavy element abundances are produced via slow neutron capture reactions in different stellar scenarios. The underlying nucleosynthesis models need the input of neutron capture cross sections. One of the fundamental signatures for active nucleosynthesis in our galaxy is the observation of long-lived radioactive isotopes, such as $^{60}$Fe with a half-life of $2.60times10^6$ yr. To reproduce this $gamma$-activity in the universe, the nucleosynthesis of $^{60}$Fe has to be understood reliably. A $^{60}$Fe sample produced at the Paul-Scherrer-Institut was activated with thermal and epithermal neutrons at the research reactor at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat Mainz. The thermal neutron capture cross section has been measured for the first time to $sigma_{text{th}}=0.226 (^{+0.044}_{-0.049})$ b. An upper limit of $sigma_{text{RI}} < 0.50$ b could be determined for the resonance integral. An extrapolation towards the astrophysicaly interesting energy regime between $kT$=10 keV and 100 keV illustrates that the s-wave part of the direct capture component can be neglected.
The use of argon as a detection and shielding medium for neutrino and dark matter experiments has made the precise knowledge of the cross section for neutron capture on argon an important design and operational parameter. Since previous measurements were averaged over thermal spectra and have significant disagreements, a differential measurement has been performed using a Time-Of-Flight neutron beam and a $sim$4$pi$ gamma spectrometer. A fit to the differential cross section from $0.015-0.15$,eV, assuming a $1/v$ energy dependence, yields $sigma^{2200} = 673 pm 26 text{ (stat.)} pm 59 text{ (sys.)}$,mb.
The $^{63}$Ni($n, gamma$) cross section has been measured for the first time at the neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF at CERN from thermal neutron energies up to 200 keV. In total, capture kernels of 12 (new) resonances were determined. Maxwellian Averaged Cross Sections were calculated for thermal energies from kT = 5 keV to 100 keV with uncertainties around 20%. Stellar model calculations for a 25 M$_odot$ star show that the new data have a significant effect on the $s$-process production of $^{63}$Cu, $^{64}$Ni, and $^{64}$Zn in massive stars, allowing stronger constraints on the Cu yields from explosive nucleosynthesis in the subsequent supernova.
Alternative methods to calculate neutron capture cross sections on radioactive nuclei are reported using the theory of Inclusive Non-Elastic Breakup (INEB) developed by Hussein and McVoy [1]. The statistical coupled-channels theory proposed in Ref. [2] is further extended in the realm of random matrices. The case of reactions with the projectile and the target being two-cluster nuclei is also analyzed and applications are made for scattering from a deuteron target [3]. An extension of the theory to a three-cluster projectile incident on a two-cluster target is also discussed. The theoretical developments described here should open new possibilities to obtain information on the neutron capture cross sections of radioactive nuclei using indirect methods.
We study the relation between neutron removal cross section ($sigma_{-N}$) and neutron skin thickness for finite neutron rich nuclei using the statistical abrasion ablation (SAA) model. Different sizes of neutron skin are obtained by adjusting the diffuseness parameter of neutrons in the Fermi distribution. It is demonstrated that there is a good linear correlation between $sigma_{-N}$ and the neutron skin thickness for neutron rich nuclei. Further analysis suggests that the relative increase of neutron removal cross section could be used as a quantitative measure for the neutron skin thickness in neutron rich nuclei.