A Systematic Investigation of Light Heavy-Ion Reactions

We introduce a novel coupling potential for the scattering of deformed light heavy-ion reactions. This new approach is based on replacing the usual first-derivative coupling potential by a new, second derivative coupling potential in the coupled-channels formalism. The new approach has been successfully applied to the study of the $^{12}$C+$^{12}$C, $^{12}$C+$^{24}$Mg, $^{16}$O+$^{28}$Si and $^{16}$O+$^{24}$Mg systems and made major improvements over all the previous coupled-channels calculations for these systems. This paper also shows the limitations of the standard coupled-channels theory and presents a global solution to the problems faced in the previous theoretical accounts of these reactions.Comment: 7 pages with 4 figure

Energy Dependence of Breakup Cross Sections of Halo Nucleus 8B and Effective Interactions

We study the energy dependence of the cross sections for nucleon removal of 8B projectiles. It is shown that the Glauber model calculations with nucleon-nucleon t-matrix reproduce well the energy dependence of the breakup cross sections of 8B. A DWBA model for the breakup cross section is also proposed and results are compared with those of the Glauber model. We show that to obtain an agreement between the DWBA calculations, the Glauber formalism, and the experimental data, it is necessary to modify the energy behavior of the effective interaction. In particular, the breakup potential has a quite different energy dependence than the strong absorption potential.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Equation of state for nuclear matter based on density dependent effective interaction

An interesting method of obtaining equation of state for nuclear matter, from a density dependent M3Y interaction, by minimizing the energy per nucleon is described. The density dependence parameters of the interaction are obtained by reproducing the saturation energy per nucleon and the saturation density of spin and isospin symmetric cold infinite nuclear matter. The nuclear matter equation of state thus obtained is then used to calculate the pressure, the energy density, the nuclear incompressibility and the velocity of sound in nuclear medium. The results obtained are in good agreement with experimental data and provide a unified description of radioactivity, scattering and nuclear matter.Comment: 10 pages including 2 figure

A Global Potential Analysis of the 16^{16}O+28^{28}Si Reaction Using a New Type of Coupling Potential

A new approach has been used to explain the experimental data for the $^{16}$O+$^{28}$Si system over a wide energy range in the laboratory system from 29.0 to 142.5 MeV. A number of serious problems has continued to plague the study of this system for a couple of decades. The explanation of anomalous large angle scattering data; the reproduction of the oscillatory structure near the Coulomb barrier; the out-of-phase problem between theoretical predictions and experimental data; the consistent description of angular distributions together with excitation functions data are just some of these problems. These are long standing problems that have persisted over the years and do represent a challenge calling for a consistent framework to resolve these difficulties within a unified approach. Traditional frameworks have failed to describe these phenomena within a single model and have so far only offered different approaches where these difficulties are investigated separately from one another. The present work offers a plausible framework where all these difficulties are investigated and answered. Not only it improves the simultaneous fits to the data of these diverse observables, achieving this within a unified approach over a wide energy range, but it departs for its coupling potential from the standard formulation. This new feature is shown to improve consistently the agreement with the experimental data and has made major improvement on all the previous coupled-channels calculations for this system.Comment: 21 pages with 12 figure

Thermonuclear Reaction Rate of 23Mg(p,gamma)24$Al

Updated stellar rates for the reaction 23Mg(p,gamma)24Al are calculated by using all available experimental information on 24Al excitation energies. Proton and gamma-ray partial widths for astrophysically important resonances are derived from shell model calculations. Correspondences of experimentally observed 24Al levels with shell model states are based on application of the isobaric multiplet mass equation. Our new rates suggest that the 23Mg(p,gamma)24Al reaction influences the nucleosynthesis in the mass A>20 region during thermonuclear runaways on massive white dwarfs.Comment: 13 pages (uses Revtex) including 3 postscript figures (uses epsfig.sty), accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Dependence of direct neutron capture on nuclear-structure models

The prediction of cross sections for nuclei far off stability is crucial in the field of nuclear astrophysics. We calculate direct neutron capture on the even-even isotopes $^{124-145}$Sn and $^{208-238}$Pb with energy levels, masses, and nuclear density distributions taken from different nuclear-structure models. The utilized structure models are a Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov model, a relativistic mean field theory, and a macroscopic-microscopic model based on the finite-range droplet model and a folded-Yukawa single-particle potential. Due to the differences in the resulting neutron separation and level energies, the investigated models yield capture cross sections sometimes differing by orders of magnitude. This may also lead to differences in the predicted astrophysical r-process paths. Astrophysical implications are discussed.Comment: 25 pages including 12 figures, RevTeX, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Hartree Fock Calculations in the Density Matrix Expansion Approach

The density matrix expansion is used to derive a local energy density functional for finite range interactions with a realistic meson exchange structure. Exchange contributions are treated in a local momentum approximation. A generalized Slater approximation is used for the density matrix where an effective local Fermi momentum is chosen such that the next to leading order off-diagonal term is canceled. Hartree-Fock equations are derived incorporating the momentum structure of the underlying finite range interaction. For applications a density dependent effective interaction is determined from a G-matrix which is renormalized such that the saturation properties of symmetric nuclear matter are reproduced. Intending applications to systems far off stability special attention is paid to the low density regime and asymmetric nuclear matter. Results are compared to predictions obtained from Skyrme interactions. The ground state properties of stable nuclei are well reproduced without further adjustments of parameters. The potential of the approach is further exemplified in calculations for A=100...140 tin isotopes. Rather extended neutron skins are found beyond 130Sn corresponding to solid layers of neutron matter surrounding a core of normal composition.Comment: Revtex, 29 pages including 14 eps figures, using epsfig.st

alpha-nucleus potentials for the neutron-deficient p nuclei

alpha-nucleus potentials are one important ingredient for the understanding of the nucleosynthesis of heavy neutron-deficient p nuclei in the astrophysical gamma-process where these p nuclei are produced by a series of (gamma,n), (gamma,p), and (gamma,alpha) reactions. I present an improved alpha-nucleus potential at the astrophysically relevant sub-Coulomb energies which is derived from the analysis of alpha decay data and from a previously established systematic behavior of double-folding potentials.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Spectroscopic factors for bound s-wave states derived from neutron scattering lengths

A simple and model-independent method is described to derive neutron single-particle spectroscopic factors of bound s-wave states in $^{A+1}Z = ^{A}Z \otimes n$ nuclei from neutron scattering lengths. Spectroscopic factors for the nuclei ^{13}C, ^{14}C, ^{16}N, ^{17}O, ^{19}O, ^{23}Ne, ^{37}Ar, and ^{41}Ar are compared to results derived from transfer experiments using the well-known DWBA analysis and to shell model calculations. The scattering length of ^{14}C is calculated from the ^{15}C_{g.s.} spectroscopic factor.Comment: 9 pages (uses revtex), no figures, accepted for publication in PRC, uuencoded tex-files and postscript-files available at ftp://is1.kph.tuwien.ac.at/pub/ohu/Thermal.u

Optical model potentials involving loosely bound p-shell nuclei around 10 MeV/A

We present the results of a search for optical model potentials for use in the description of elastic scattering and transfer reactions involving stable and radioactive p-shell nuclei. This was done in connection with our program to use transfer reactions to obtain data for nuclear astrophysics, in particular for the determination of the astrophysical S_17 factor for 7Be(p,\gamma)8B using two (7Be,8B) proton transfer reactions. Elastic scattering was measured using 7Li, 10B, 13C and 14N projectiles on 9Be and 13C targets at or about E/A=10 MeV/nucleon. Woods-Saxon type optical model potentials were extracted and are compared with potentials obtained from a microscopic double folding model. We use these results to find optical model potentials for unstable nuclei with emphasis on the reliability of the description they provide for peripheral proton transfer reactions. We discuss the uncertainty introduced by the procedure in the prediction of the DWBA cross sections for the (7Be,8B) reactions used in extracting the astrophysical factor S_17(0).Comment: 16 pages, LaTEX file, 9 figures (PostScript files