Impact of a low-energy enhancement in the gamma-ray strength function on the radiative neutron-capture

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a recently observed low-energy enhancement in gamma-ray strength functions affects neutron-capture cross sections, with implications for nucleosynthesis, especially near the neutron drip line.

Contribution

It provides the first analysis of the impact of low-energy gamma-ray strength enhancements on (n,gamma) cross sections for neutron-rich isotopes.

Findings

Neutron-capture cross sections increase significantly near the neutron drip line.

Low-energy enhancement could influence r-process nucleosynthesis models.

The effect varies across different isotopes studied.

Abstract

A low-energy enhancement of the gamma-ray strength function in several light and medium-mass nuclei has been observed recently in 3He-induced reactions. The effect of this enhancement on (n,gamma) cross-sections is investigated for stable and unstable neutron-rich Fe, Mo and Cd isotopes. Our results indicate that the radiative neutron capture cross sections may increase considerably due to the low-energy enhancement when approaching the neutron drip line. This could have non-negligible consequences on r-process nucleosynthesis calculations.