The Wood-Saxon proton optical potential for p-nuclei

TL;DR

This paper develops a phenomenological proton optical potential model based on the Wood-Saxon form, tailored for p-nuclei, which improves the fit to elastic scattering data and proton capture cross-sections near the Coulomb barrier.

Contribution

It introduces a new mass-energy dependent Wood-Saxon proton optical potential specifically for p-nuclei, enhancing the accuracy of scattering and reaction predictions.

Findings

The model fits elastic scattering data well for p-nuclei with 74 < A < 148.

The potential provides better agreement with experimental proton capture cross-sections than global models.

Validation against experimental data shows improved predictive capability near the Coulomb barrier.

Abstract

A phenomenological mass-energy dependent proton optical model potential has been computed for p-nuclei. The parameters of the Wood-Saxon optical potential are found to be a good fit for proton elastic scattering data involving p-nuclei and elements with mass numbers near p-nuclei (within the range of 74 < A < 148) at energies around the Coulomb barrier of the system. The elastic scattering data were meticulously fitted using the SFRESCO code, allowing for the calculation of the real and imaginary parts of the Wood Saxon optical potential. To validate the model, experimental proton capture cross-sections for 106Cd and 113In near the Coulomb barrier were compared with results obtained using the TALYS-1.96 code, showing better agreement than the available global proton optical model potential.