Departures from the Hauser-Feshbach theory due to the level-level correlations in deformed nuclei

A microscopic dynamical model is used for the inelastic scattering of nucleons by deformed nuclei and the fluctuation cross sections are calculated. The case of weak absorption in all channels is considered so that the number of statistical assumptions is minimized. The results are compared with the Hauser-Feshbach expressions as regards the magnitude and structure. The partial width amplitudes calculated from the model are correlated, the simplest type of level-level correlations being due to the similar-channels effect (SCE). When the correlations are due to SCE alone, the following two results are obtained, (i) The fluctuation cross sections are increased over the Hauser-Feshbach estimates, for Γ ? D and Γ ? D, by a factor κ if the entrance and exit channels are similar. The numerical value of κ is found to be 3 for a special case and in the general case it is conjectured to lie between the limits 1 and 3, (ii) The fluctuation cross sections σ_cc′^f1 and σ^f1_cc″ exhibit correlated fluctuations if the exit channels c′ and c″ are similar. The fluctuation cross sections in the cases “SCE+direct channel-channel coupling” and “SCE+intermediate structure” are also investigated. In all cases studied direct reaction cross sections do not vanish and the channelwise factorization assumption of the Hauser-Feshbach theory fails.