Partial width fluctuation method of determining nuclear level density

A new method of determining the nuclear level density is presented. This method is based on the statistical analysis of the partial width fluctuations appearing in an excitation function of the radiative proton capture. The method was applied in the case of the ⁸⁸Sr(p, γ₀)⁸⁹Y and⁸⁹Y(p, γ₀)⁹⁰Zr reactions. The density of levels with spin 1^? in ⁹⁰Zr and the densities of levels with spins $\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ and $\text{3}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ in ⁸⁹Y at excitation energies from 10.9 to 11.6 MeV and from 9.3 to 10.8 MeV respectively, were determined with an uncertainty of about 35%.