The radiative neutron capture on 2H, 6Li, 7Li, 12C and 13C at astrophysical energies

TL;DR

This paper reviews the radiative neutron capture processes on light nuclei like 2H, 6Li, 7Li, 12C, and 13C at energies relevant to astrophysics, using the potential cluster model to analyze their roles in nucleosynthesis.

Contribution

It applies the potential cluster model and phase shift analysis to calculate neutron capture cross sections on specific light nuclei at astrophysical energies, providing insights into primordial nucleosynthesis.

Findings

Calculated capture cross sections for 2H, 6Li, 7Li, 12C, and 13C.

Demonstrated use of phase shift analysis for potential construction.

Linked capture processes to primordial nucleosynthesis.

Abstract

The continued interest to the study of the radiative neutron capture on atomic nuclei is caused, on the one hand, by the important role of this process in the analysis of many fundamental properties of nuclei and nuclear reactions, and, on the other hand, by the wide use of the capture cross section data in the various applications of nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics, and, also, by the analysis of the processes of primordial nucleosynthesis in the Universe. This review is devoted to description of the results obtained for the processes of the radiative neutron capture at thermal and astrophysical energies on certain light atomic nuclei. The consideration of these processes is done in the frame of the potential cluster model, the general principles of which and calculation methods were described earlier. The methods of usage of the obtained on the basis of the phase shift analysis intercluster potentials will be directly demonstrated for calculations of the radiative capture characteristics. The considered capture reactions are not a part of stellar thermonuclear cycles, but they get in the basic reaction chain of primordial nucleosynthesis, taken place in the time of the Universe formation.