Constraining capture cross sections using proton inelastic scattering as a surrogate reaction

TL;DR

This paper develops theoretical methods to extract nuclear capture cross sections from proton inelastic scattering surrogate experiments, helping reduce uncertainties in nuclear reaction modeling.

Contribution

It introduces new theoretical tools for deriving capture cross sections from surrogate reactions, enabling better constraints on decay models.

Findings

Successfully inferred $^{89}$Y$(p, extgamma)$ and $^{89}$Zr$(n, extgamma)$ cross sections

Demonstrated the method with $^{90}$Zr$(p,p' extgamma)$ surrogate measurements

Provides a pathway to improve nuclear reaction data accuracy

Abstract

The surrogate reaction method is an alternative to direct measurements of compound nuclear reaction cross sections. We introduce theory tools for extracting capture cross sections from experiments that use proton inelastic scattering as a surrogate reaction mechanism. This makes it possible to constrain compound nucleus decay models which are typically the largest source of uncertainty in capture cross section calculations. This letter describes the theory developments that were used to simultaneously infer $^{89}$Y$(p,\gamma)$ and $^{89}$Zr$(n,\gamma)$ cross sections from $^{90}$Zr$(p,p'\gamma)$ surrogate measurements.