Strength functions of primary transitions following thermal neutron capture in strontium

The primaryE1,M1 andE2γ-radiation in^87,88,89Sr observed after thermal neutron capture was compared with the predictions of single particle and giant resonance models. The nuclei feature a wide range of neutron binding energies between 6.3 and 11.1 MeV, which makes a 5.5 MeV spectrum of primary transition energies available for investigation. The (n, γ) reaction was used to estimate the parameters of the spin-flip M1 giant resonance in strontium. The total energy weightedM1 strength of this resonance exceeds the results of shell model and random phase approximation calculations for⁹⁰Zr by a factor of 3–4. TheE1 strengths were found to agree with the established giant dipole resonance model. The few data on primaryE2 transitions do not allow to differentiate between the giant quadrupole resonance and the single particle models.