Study of ⁵⁸Fe's PSF Using d,p Reaction in Inverse Kinematics with the Forward Method

Maxwell Sorensen
Texas A&M University

The photon strength function (PSF) is important in describing photon emission probabilities and thus it plays a role in radiative neutron capture reactions. Experiments have shown an enhancement in the PSF at low energy for some nuclei. This low energy enhancement (LEE) could have a large effect on r-process nucleosynthesis, where many nuclei with unmeasured neutron capture cross sections are produced in nature. Experiments have shown an LEE in both ⁵⁶Fe and ⁵⁷Fe nuclei. A measurement of ⁵⁸Fe’s PSF could see if this trend continues. In addition, doing a measurement of ⁵⁸Fe’s PSF helps to prepare for a future measurement of ⁶⁰Fe’s PSF, which will require a radioactive beam. DAPPER (Detector Array for Photons, Protons, and Exotic Residues) probes PSFs using inverse kinematics (d,p) reactions. DAPPER consists of 128 BaF₂ detectors, to detect the gamma rays with high efficiency, and one S3 Annular Silicon detector, to detect the proton. A beam experiment was done on August 2^nd 2021 to measure ⁵⁸Fe’s PSF. Preliminary results using a Forward methodology will be discussed.

Hosted by Dr. deBoer