Observation of hidden nuclear reactions on fast neutron-irradiated Lu isotopes

TL;DR

This study provides experimental evidence for hidden nuclear reactions involving lutetium isotopes under fast neutron irradiation, revealing new reaction pathways and implications for nuclear physics and high-energy physics.

Contribution

It demonstrates the role of dineutrons in nuclear reactions and confirms a significant reduction in the half-life of 176gLu, indicating novel fusion pathways.

Findings

Confirmation of dineutron involvement in reactions

Significant reduction in 176gLu half-life

High cross-section estimate of 10E+11 b

Abstract

Some nuclear reaction channels may not be easily identified, but they can still contribute to very important characteristics like nuclear reaction cross-sections, isomeric yields, etc. The dineutron, as a bound nucleus of two neutrons, can play hidden roles, as it is considered a product resulting from fast neutron-induced nuclear reactions involving the isotopes of lutetium. When being formed in the output channels, a bound dineutron allows for an explanation for unexpected enhancement of reaction cross-sections. We used available data and instrumental spectra to deeply consider the role of the dineutron in order to understand the consequences of its formation and subsequent decay upon transformations of nuclear reaction products. As a result, we obtained experimental confirmation that the half-life of 176gLu is significantly diminished within a certain time interval, which reveals an extremely high estimation for its cross-section of 10E+11 b. This is actually due to 176gLu "burnup", followed by the fusion between 175Lu and a deuteron. This introduces the existence of novel, low-energy reactions and fusion pathways under neutron irradiation, which in-turn, leads to implications for both basic nuclear physics and HEP, along with their applications.