Calculations of Maxwellian-averaged Cross Sections and Astrophysical Reaction Rates Using the ENDF/B-VII.0, JEFF-3.1, JENDL-3.3 and ENDF/B-VI.8 Evaluated Nuclear Reaction Data Libraries

TL;DR

This paper computes Maxwellian-averaged cross sections and reaction rates for stellar nucleosynthesis using multiple nuclear data libraries, comparing results to previous data to inform astrophysical models.

Contribution

It provides a systematic calculation of reaction rates across several libraries and temperature ranges, enhancing the accuracy of astrophysical nucleosynthesis modeling.

Findings

Differences observed between libraries impact nucleosynthesis predictions.

Reaction rates vary significantly with temperature and library choice.

Results improve understanding of stellar nucleosynthesis processes.

Abstract

We calculated the Maxwellian-averaged cross sections (MACS) and astrophysical reaction rates of the stellar nucleosynthesis reactions (n,$\gamma$), (n,fission), (n,p), (n,$\alpha$) and (n,2n) using the ENDF/B-VII.0-, JEFF-3.1-, JENDL-3.3-, and ENDF/B-VI.8-evaluated nuclear-data libraries. Four major nuclear reaction libraries were processed under the same conditions for Maxwellian temperatures ({\it kT}) ranging from 1 keV to 1 MeV. We compare our current calculations of the {\it s}-process nucleosynthesis nuclei with previous data sets and discuss the differences between them and the implications for nuclear astrophysics.