Nuclear $\beta^{-}$-decay with statistical de-excitation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive model combining QRPA and Hauser-Feshbach methods to accurately predict nuclear beta-minus decay spectra, including neutron, gamma, Auger, and internal conversion electron emissions, for neutron-rich nuclei.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel integrated approach using QRPA and HF models to simulate nuclear beta decay and subsequent de-excitation processes with detailed spectra.

Findings

Provides detailed spectra for neutron, gamma, Auger, and IC electrons.

Tabulated results suitable for practical applications.

Enhanced accuracy in modeling beta decay processes.

Abstract

The accurate description of nuclear $\beta^{-}$-decay has far-reaching consequences for applications spanning nuclear reactors to the creation of heavy elements in astrophysical environments. We present the nuclear particle spectra associated with the $\beta$-decay of neutron-rich nuclei calculated with the well benchmarked coupled Quasi-particle Random Phase Approximation and Hauser-Feshbach (QRPA+HF) model. This approach begins with the population of the daughter nucleus via semi-microscopic Gamow-Teller or First-Forbidden strength distributions (QRPA) and follows the statistical de-excitation (HF) until the initial available excitation energy is exhausted. At each stage of de-excitation the emission by neutrons and $\gamma$-rays is considered obeying quantum mechanical selection rules. For completeness we also provide parsed Auger and Internal Conversion (IC) electron spectra from Evaluated Nuclear Data Files (ENDF). Our results are tabulated and provided in parsable ASCII formatted tables that are suitable for inclusion in various applications.