Novel technique for constraining r-process (n,γ) reaction rates

الأصل · EN

A novel technique has been developed, which will open exciting new opportunities for studying the very neutron-rich nuclei involved in the r-process. As a proof-of-principle, the γ-spectra from the β-decay of ⁷⁶Ga have been measured with the SuN detector at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. The nuclear level density and γ-ray strength function are extracted and used as input to Hauser-Feshbach calculations. The present technique is shown to strongly constrain the ⁷⁵Ge(n,γ)⁷⁶Ge cross section and reaction rate.