Non-statistical effects in the 12C(12C, α)20Ne reaction near Ec.m. = 15 MeV

The ¹²C(¹²C, α)²⁰Ne reaction is studied near E_c.m. = 15 MeV. Angular distributions for three energies and excitation functions at θ_{lab = 30°} over an energy range E_c.m. = 14.5?15.4 MeV for about 20 levels in ²⁰Ne (E_ex = 0–13 MeV) are examined. The statistical analysis yields the results that a correlated resonance is present at E_c.m. = 14.75 MeV. A nonstatistical contribution to the reaction is also apparent when energy-averaged cross sections are compared with the Hauser-Feshbach model predictions. Strong population of the 0⁺₃ band in ²⁰Ne is observed.     

Reactions of 40Ar with 159Tb, 142Nd and 144Sm; New α-activities from 189Bi, 173Pt and 177Au

Reactions of ⁴⁰Ar ions with targets of ¹⁵⁹Tb, ¹⁴²Nd, and ¹⁴⁴Sm have been studied at energies below 300 MeV with a helium gas-jet system. Excitation functions for (Ar, xn) reactions, where x = 5–10, were obtained for the radioactive products that decay by α-emission. Based on the characteristics of these excitation functions and on the systematics of α-decay, evidence is presented for the existence of the nuclides ¹⁸⁹Bi with α-particle energy E_α = 6.67±0.01 MeV and half-life < 1.5 sec, and ¹⁷³Pt with E_α = 6.19±0.01 MeV; and for the emission from ¹⁷⁷Au of an α-particle with E_α = 6.15±0.01 MeV.     

Excited states of 10B from the 6Li(α, γ) and 9Be(p, γ) reactions

Excitation functions for the (α, γ) and (p, γ) reactions leading to ¹⁰B have been measured at θ = 0° in the energy range from E_x = 6.7 to 7.6 MeV. Two resonances corresponding to levels at 6.88 and 7.44 MeV are observed. Branching ratios extracted from γ-ray spectra are the same in both reactions for the 6.88 MeV (1^?, T = 0 + 1) level, but different at 7.44 MeV. The T = 0 + 1 level at 7.44 MeV (Γ = 90±10keV) is assigned 2^? or 2⁺ from its strong branch to the 3⁺ ground state. We find no evidence for a second isospin mixed 1^? state.     

12C(7Li,t)16O and stellar helium fusion

The reaction ¹²C(⁷Li, t)¹⁶O has been studied at $\text{E(}{}^7\text{Li}\text{) = 34}\text{MeV}$ with the LASL tandem accelerator and QDDD magnetic spectrometer. Angular distributions to levels with E_x < 11 MeV have been obtained from 0° to 90°, including 0°. The results have been analyzed with finite-range distorted-wave Born approximation theory. The α-particle spectroscopic factors and reduced widths obtained are compared with those calculated with group theory (SU(3)) and other models. The analysis of data for the 7.1 and 9.6 MeV J^π = 1^? levels, which are of great importance in stellar helium buring, yields a ratio, R, of dimensionless reduced α-widths $\text{θ}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>a</mtext>}}\text{(7.1}\text{MeV}\text{)}\text{θ}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>a</mtext>}}\text{(9.6}\text{MeV}\text{)}\text{= 0.35b ± 0.13}$. The observed line width of the 9.6 MeV level (Γ_c.m. = 390 ± 60 keV) is less than the accepted value (Γ_c.m. = 510 ± 60 keV) and implies θ²_a(9.6 MeV) ≈ 0.6. These results as well as data for the 6.92 MeV J^π = 2⁺ and 10.35 MeV J^π = 4⁺ “α-cluster” states indicate 0.09 < θ²_a(7.1 MeV) < 0.33 with a mean value θ²_a(7.1 MeV) = 0.14 ± 0.04. The implication for stellar helium burning is discussed.     

The 12C(9Be,n)20Ne reaction

A study of the ¹²C(⁹Be, n)²⁰Ne reaction has been carried out at bombarding energies of 16 and 24 MeV. The spectra at both incident energies are dominated by a consistent set of levels between an excitation energy of 7.3 ± 0.4 and 15.7 ± 0.3 MeV. The rotational band based on the K^π = 0₃⁺ state appears to be strongly populated. Based on this selectivity, additional evidence is provided in favor of identification of the 8⁺ state at 15.9 MeV with this 0₃⁺ band. Angular distributions measured at the higher bombarding energy are compared with statistical compound-nuclear calculations. It appears that a non-statistical mechanism is responsible for the reaction's selective population of states with 8p-4h configuration. Such a mechanism, involving the preferential breakup of the ⁹Be into ⁸Be plus a neutron, is discussed.     

Search for intermediate structure in 36Ar via the 24Mg(12C, α)32S reaction

The ²⁴Mg(¹²C,α)³²S reaction was investigated in the energy range E_c.m. = 11.9–19.4 MeV by measuring excitation functions of the α₀ and α₁ groups. Angular distributions (θ_c.m. = 12–97°) were also measured at a number of energies. The excitation functions were subjected to a statistical analysis by means of evaluating correlation and deviation functions; no statistically significant anomalies were found. The α₀ angular distributions display fairly high angular-momentum selectivity as pairs of Legendre polynomials provide acceptable fits to most of them: however, only one, at E_c.m. = 18.1 MeV, is strongly dominated by a single partial wave, l = 11. Excitation functions as well as angular distributions of both α₀ and α₁ cross sections were found to be in good qualitative agreement with Hauser-Feshbach calculations throughout the energy range studied. Thus, the analysis of the data shows that intermediate resonant structures, if present, are weak and interfere strongly with the statistical compound-nucleus background, which effectively prevents their clear observation and identification in the present study.     

Spectroscopy of intermediate 16F states with the reaction 14N(3He,np)15O

Excited states of ¹⁶F have been investigated with the reaction ¹⁴N(³He, np)¹⁵O at E = 10.5 and 12 MeV in kinematically complete experiments. Proton groups corresponding to the decays of intermediate ¹⁶F states were observed at various angles with counter telescopes in time coincidence with the associated neutrons detected at θ_n^lab = 0° with a time-of-flight spectrometer. Excitation energies and decay widths Γ_p0 of these states have been extracted from the proton spectra. Lower limits for the orbital angular momentum in the decay channel and for the spin of the states have been deduced from the obtained angular correlations. By comparison with the reaction ¹⁴N(³He, pp)¹⁵N measured at E = 13 MeV, pairs of $\text{T = 1}{}^{16}\text{F}$ parent/¹⁶O analog states have been identified. J^π assignments and shell-model configurations are discussed on the basis of the selectivity of the reactions measured.     

The (d, 6Li) reaction on 12C, 16O, 24Mg, 40Ca and 58Ni at 54.25 MeV

The (d, ⁶Li) reaction was studied at E_d = 54.25 MeV on the target nuclei ¹²C, ¹⁶O, ²⁴Mg, ⁴⁰Ca and ⁵⁸Ni. The data were analyzed with finite-range DWBA calculations. The absolute values of the α-cluster spectroscopic factors and the target mass dependence of the relative S_α were in agreement with those in the (p, pα) reaction at E_p = 100 and 157 MeV. The theoretical calculations of the relative S_α were in better agreement with the experimental data at higher energy than at the lower energies.     

The decay of isoscalar giant resonances in 24Mg and 40Ca

In this paper we present data on the charged-particle decay of the isoscalar 2⁺ strength between 10 and 20 MeV excitation energy (E_x) in ²⁴Mg and ⁴⁰Ca. The isoscalar strength was excited by inelastic scattering of 120MeV α-particles at 14° and 12.5° for ²⁴Mg and ⁴⁰Ca, respectively. The charged particles originating from the decay were detected in coincidence with the α′ particles at several angles in the scattering plane. J^π assignments of the decaying states were made on the basis of the angular correlation pattern of the α₀ decay to the ground state of ²⁰Ne and ³⁶Ar, respectively, using a DWBA calculation for the m-state population of the decaying state.For ⁴⁰Ca, about 40% of the E2 EWSR is found to be located in the interval E_x = 13.5 ± 1.5 MeV, which is similar to what has been found from previous inelastic scattering experiments at E_x = 18 ± 2 MeV, but much more than such experiments located in the region E_x = 12–15 MeV. The difference for the region E_x < 16 MeV is due to the fact that from our α₀ angular correlation pattern we conclude that virtually no continuum is excited in the (α, α′) process up to E_x = 16 MeV while all previous inelastic hadron scattering experiments assumed such a continuum to be present. The E2 strength distribution for ⁴⁰Ca thus obtained is very different from what previous theoretical calculations predict. For ²⁴Mg about 30% of the E2 EWSR is present in the interval 12.5 ? E_x ? experiments. 16.5 MeV which again is about twice as much as deduced from previous inelastic scattering The observed branching ratios are compared with calculated ones assuming statistical decay. Reasonable agreement was obtained for ⁴⁰Ca, but for ²⁴Mg especially the α₀-decay branch and to a lesser extent also the p₁ one are much stronger than the statistical calculations predict, indicating that especially the α₀ decay occurs mainly in a non-statistical way.A similar conclusion can be drawn from the behaviour of the forward-backward asymmetry in the angular correlations of the decay particles as a function of the excitation energy FBA(E_x). For ⁴⁰Ca, FBA(E_x) for all decay channels increases smoothly on the average once E_x is above a well-defined threshold, which is due to the onset of knock-out processes. For ²⁴Mg, however, the FBA(E_x) for the α₀ shows a large fluctuation as a function of E_x, indicating an interference process between semi-direct decay and knock-out processes.     

Four-nucleon transfer with the 32S(16O, 12C)36Ar reaction

Angular distributions have been measured for the ³²S(¹⁶O,¹²C)³⁶Ar reaction at 45.5 MeV leading to excited states between E_x, = 0 and 8 MeV. Experimental cross sections are compared with exact finite-range DWBA calculations in combination with extensive shell-model calculations, which include sd- and fp-shell configurations. Transitions to low-energy positive-parity states and bound negative-parity states are well reproduced. The calculations, however, fail to describe some high-energy positive-parity states. Calculations with a complete cluster expansion for the four transferred nucleons give about 50% larger cross sections, but can not explain the observed discrepancies. Possible interference of reaction processes other than direct α-transfer and special structure effects are discussed.     

Alpha-heavy-ion angular correlations from 28Si + 12C

Alpha particles have been measured in coincidence with heavy recoil nuclei from the ²⁸Si + ¹²C reaction. At E_lab = 87 MeV angular correlations for alphas between 15° and 55° and heavy ions at angles ?9°, ?12° and ?15° have been taken. An excitation function of coincidence events with θ_α = 30° and θ_HI = ?12° has been measured for 84 MeV < E_lab < 91.5 MeV. The results are well described by a statistical-model calculation for compound nucleus decay. No evidence is found for additional processes.     

Search for resonances in 12C(9Be, α)17O

Excitation functions at 7° (lab) have been measured from E_c.m. = 5.1 to 11.4 MeV in approximately 114 keV steps for 15 groups of final states in ¹⁷O populated by the ¹²C(⁹Be, α) reaction. Statistical tests have been used to locate possible non-statistical structure in the excitation functions. Possible anomalies were found near E_c.m. = 6.3, 7.5, 8.9 and 9.7 MeV. Angular distributions were measured at E_c.m. = 9.20, 9.71 and 10.23 MeV for the three lowest excited states in ¹⁷O. The data have been compared with Hauser-Feshbach calculations in addition to the following reaction mechanisms: compound plus a single resonance, compound plus interfering resonances and compound plus direct reactions.     

Anomalous L = 0 transition observed in the reaction 40Ca(p,t)38Ca

An anomalous L = 0 transition to the 3.06 MeV state in ³⁸Ca is observed in the reaction ⁴⁰Ca(p,t) at E_p = 52 MeV. Its angular distribution and relative intensity can be explained by the cancellation of form factors.     

Proton-hole states in 115In observed in the 116Sn(d, 3He) reaction

The ¹¹⁶Sn(d, ³He)¹¹⁵In reaction has been investigated at E_d = 50 MeV. Thirteen transitions to states up to 3 MeV excitation energy were studied. The measured angular distributions were compared with DWBA calculations and transferred angular momenta and spectroscopic factors were deduced. Levels at 1.04, 2.23 and 2.52 MeV were found to be excited most likely by l = 3 angular momentum transfer in contrast to previous investigations at lower incident energies in which no l = 3 transitions have been observed.     

Levels of 28Si from the 24Mg(α, α)24Mg and 24Mg(α, γ)28Si reactions

Excitation functions have been measured at six angles for ²⁴Mg(α, α)²⁴Mg up to E_α 4.94 MeV. Multi-level R-matrix analysis was performed for nineteen resonances. More than ha of the determined spin-parities and other resonance parameters are new values. The ²⁴Mg(α, γ)²⁸Si studies of Maas et al. were extended up to E_α = 5.13 MeV. Resonance strengths and branchin ratios were determined. The γ-ray angular distribution measurement at E_α = 3.79 MeV gives J^π = 2⁺ value for the resonance. A comparison of the results obtained in different reaction channel is given and the possibility of clusterisation in some excited states of ²⁸Si is discussed.     

Lifetimes of some excited states in 64Ni, 66Zn and 68Zn

Mean lives and excitation energies of the lowest levels in⁶⁴Ni,⁶⁶Zn and⁶⁸Zn were measured with the aid of the (α, α′γ) and (α, pγ) reactions. The γ-rays were detected in coincidence with the outgoing particles. The following mean lives were determined from DSA measurements: 400 ± 150 fs for the level at E_x = 1.35 MeV in ⁶⁴Ni; 270 ± 100, 210 ± 110, 330 ± 200, 80 ± 70 fs for the levels at E_x = 1.87, 2.45, 2.83, 2.94 MeV in ⁶⁶Zn, and 1300 ± 300, > 160, 600 ± 200 fs for the levels at E_x = 1.08, 1.89 and 2.76 MeV in ⁶⁸Zn, respectively.     

Reaction and fusion cross sections for 32S on 27Al and 48Ti

Elastic scattering and evaporation residues have been measured for the system ³²S + ²⁷Al at E_c.m. = 66.4, 73.2 MeV and ³²S + ⁴⁸Ti at E_c.m. = 96.0 MeV. Reaction cross sections have been obtained by use of the optical theorem and are found to be about 60 % larger than the fusion cross sections.     

The tensor analyzing power AzzATθ = 0° for the 3He(d, p)4He reaction

The tensor analyzing power f_zz has been measured for the ³He($\text{d}$, p)⁴He reaction at 0 = 0° over an incident deuteron energy range E_d = 6.6–15.8 MeV in steps of 0.5 MeV. The present results agree with and extend the previous measurements of Grüebler et al. The present results indicate that this reaction is a very good tensor analyzer for polarized deuteron beams with energies up to 15.8 MeV.     

The elastic scattering of polarized 3He by 3He and excitation in the 6Be system

Angular distributions of the polarization in the elastic scattering of ³He by ³He have been measured at eight energies between 18 and 33 MeV, corresponding to excitation of ⁶Be between 20.5 and 28 MeV. The measurements were made using the 33 MeV polarised ³He beam at the University of Birmingham Radial Ridge cyclotron and a small gas target. The data have been analysed in terms of real and complex phase shifts. The deduced phase shift energy dependence cannot be associated with a single isolated level in ⁶Be, however an application of the two-level R-matrix formula reveals some broad L = 3 structures around E_x = 25 MeV.