Analysis of the background on cross section measurements with the MAGNEX spectrometer: the (20Ne,20O) Double Charge Exchange case

TL;DR

This paper discusses how to accurately measure small cross sections in nuclear reactions using the MAGNEX spectrometer by analyzing background contributions and particle identification limits, exemplified with a specific reaction.

Contribution

It introduces a method to quantify background effects in cross section measurements with MAGNEX, applicable to various reaction channels.

Findings

Quantified background contributions in the 116Cd(20Ne,20O)116Sn reaction.

Demonstrated the particle identification technique's limits.

Provided a generalized analysis method for other reactions.

Abstract

The MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer is used in the experimental measurements of Double Charge Exchange and Multi-Nucleon Transfer reactions induced by heavy ions within the NUMEN project. These processes are characterized by small cross sections under a large background due to other reaction channels. Therefore an accurate control of the signal to background ratio is mandatory. In this article, the determination of the MAGNEX spectrometer background contribution on cross section measurements is presented by applying a suitable analysis to quantify the limits of the adopted particle identification technique. The method is discussed considering the 116Cd(20Ne,20O)116Sn Double Charge Exchange reaction data, however it can be applied to any other reaction channel of interest.