# Reconciling Coulomb breakup and neutron radiative capture

## TL;DR

This paper analyzes the Coulomb-breakup method for extracting neutron radiative capture cross sections, emphasizing the importance of the neutron-core continuum and proposing improvements for more accurate astrophysical data extraction.

## Contribution

It demonstrates the sensitivity of the Coulomb-breakup method to the neutron-core continuum and suggests refinements to improve the accuracy of radiative capture cross section measurements.

## Key findings

- The Coulomb-breakup cross section is proportional to the square of the asymptotic normalization constant.
- The neutron-core continuum significantly influences the calculations.
- Selecting forward-angle and low-energy breakup data improves cross section accuracy.

## Abstract

The Coulomb-breakup method to extract the cross section for neutron radiative capture at astrophysical energies is analyzed in detail. In particular, its sensitivity to the description of the neutron-core continuum is ascertained. We consider the case of 14C(n, $\gamma$)15C for which both the radiative capture at low energy and the Coulomb breakup of 15C into 14C+n on Pb at 68 MeV/nucleon have been measured with accuracy. We confirm the direct proportionality of the cross section for both reactions to the square of the asymptotic normalization constant of 15C observed by Summers and Nunes [Phys. Rev. C 78, 011601 (2008)], but we also show that the 14C-n continuum plays a significant role in the calculations. Fortunately, the method proposed by Summers and Nunes can be improved to absorb that continuum dependence. We show that a more precise radiative-capture cross section can be extracted selecting the breakup data at forward angles and low 14C-n relative energies.