First Measurement of the Neutron-Emission Probability with a Surrogate Reaction in Inverse Kinematics at a Heavy-Ion Storage Ring
Journal article, 2025
Neutron-induced reaction cross sections of short-lived nuclei are imperative to understand the origin of heavy elements in stellar nucleosynthesis and for societal applications, but their measurement is extremely complicated due to the radioactivity of the targets involved. One way of overcoming this issue is to combine surrogate reactions with the unique possibilities offered by heavy-ion storage rings. In this work, we describe the first surrogate-reaction experiment in inverse kinematics, which we successfully conducted at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) of the GSI/FAIR facility, using the Pb208(p,p′) reaction as a surrogate for neutron capture on Pb207. Thanks to the outstanding detection efficiencies possible at the ESR, we were able to measure for the first time the neutron-emission probability as a function of the excitation energy of Pb208. We have used this probability to select different descriptions of the γ-ray strength function and nuclear level density, and provide reliable results for the neutron-induced radiative capture cross section of Pb207 at energies for which no experimental data exist.
Author
M. Sguazzin
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
IPN Orsay
B. Jurado
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
J. Pibernat
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
Jacobus A. Swartz
Michigan State University
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
M. Grieser
Max Planck Society
J. Glorius
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Y. Litvinov
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
J. Adamczewski-Musch
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
P. Alfaurt
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
P. Ascher
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
L. Audouin
University Paris-Saclay
C. Berthelot
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
B. Blank
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
K. Blaum
Max Planck Society
Benjamin Brückner
Goethe University Frankfurt
S. F. Dellmann
Goethe University Frankfurt
I. Dillmann
TRIUMF
University of Victoria
C. Domingo-Pardo
Universitat de Valencia
M. Dupuis
University Paris-Saclay
The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA)
Philipp Erbacher
Goethe University Frankfurt
M. Flayol
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
O. Forstner
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
D. Freire-Fernández
Max Planck Society
Heidelberg University
M. Gerbaux
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
J. Giovinazzo
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
S. Grévy
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
C. J. Griffin
TRIUMF
A. Gumberidze
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
S. Heil
Goethe University Frankfurt
Andreas Heinz
Chalmers, Physics, Subatomic, High Energy and Plasma Physics
R. Hess
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Deniz Kurtulgil
Goethe University Frankfurt
N. Kurz
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
G. Leckenby
TRIUMF
University of British Columbia (UBC)
S. Litvinov
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
B. Lorentz
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
V. Meot
The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA)
University Paris-Saclay
J. Michaud
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
IPN Orsay
S. Pérard
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
N. Petridis
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
U. Popp
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
D. Ramos
Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds (GANIL)
R. Reifarth
Goethe University Frankfurt
Los Alamos National Laboratory
M. Roche
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
S. Sanjari
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Aachen University of Applied Sciences
R. S. Sidhu
Max Planck Society
University of Edinburgh
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
University of Surrey
U. Spillmann
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
M. Steck
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
T. Stohlker
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Benedikt Thomas
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
L. Thulliez
University Paris-Saclay
M. Versteegen
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
B. Włoch
Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
Physical Review Letters
0031-9007 (ISSN) 1079-7114 (eISSN)
Vol. 134 7 072501Creation of heavy elements in neutron-star mergers
Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (2020.0076), 2021-01-01 -- 2025-12-31.
Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Cosmology
Subatomic Physics
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.072501