Sensitivity of (d,p) reactions to high n-p momenta and the consequences for nuclear spectroscopy studies

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that incorporating nonlocal nucleon-target interactions and realistic deuteron wave functions significantly affects (d,p) reaction models, impacting nuclear spectroscopy and astrophysics studies.

Contribution

It introduces the importance of nonlocality and high n-p momenta in (d,p) reaction models, revealing sensitivities previously overlooked by local optical potential approaches.

Findings

Including nonlocal interactions alters deuteron channel potentials.

High n-p momenta significantly influence (d,p) cross sections.

Implications for nuclear spectroscopy accuracy are discussed.

Abstract

Theoretical models of low-energy (d,p) single-neutron transfer reactions are a crucial link between experimentation, nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysical studies. Whereas reaction models that use local optical potentials are insensitive to short-range physics in the deuteron, we show that including the inherent nonlocality of the nucleon-target interactions and realistic deuteron wave functions generates significant sensitivity to high n-p relative momenta and to the underlying nucleon-nucleon interaction. We quantify this effect upon the deuteron channel distorting potentials within the framework of the adiabatic deuteron breakup model. The implications for calculated (d,p) cross sections and spectroscopic information deduced from experiments are discussed.