SAIP2016

Searching for the low-energy enhancement in ⁹¹Zr

5 Jul 2016, 14:20

20m

LT3 (Kramer Law building)

Oral Presentation Track B - Nuclear, Particle and Radiation Physics Nuclear, Particle and Radiation Physics (1)

Speaker

Mr Bonginkosi Richard Zikhali (University of Zululand)

Main supervisor (name and email)<br>and his / her institution

Mathis Wiedeking
wiedeking@tlabs.ac.za

Please indicate whether<br>this abstract may be<br>published online<br>(Yes / No)

yes

Would you like to <br> submit a short paper <br> for the Conference <br> Proceedings (Yes / No)?

no

Abstract content <br> &nbsp; (Max 300 words)<br><a href="http://events.saip.org.za/getFile.py/access?resId=0&materialId=0&confId=34" target="_blank">Formatting &<br>Special chars</a>

The γ-ray strength function (γ SF) is defined as a measure of the average reduced decay probability of a nucleus. This concept is useful at high excitation energies where the spacing between the levels is small and gives information on degrees of freedom and underlying nuclear dynamics. Evidence of the low-energy enhancement in the
γ SF for energies less than 4 MeV has been discovered in several fp-shell nuclei, e.g. see Ref.[1].
Recently, a strong enhancement of M1 transitions in ⁹⁰Zr has been predicted for γ-ray energies below 2 MeV in shell model calculations [2]. In this work we explore the existence of the low-energy enhancement in neighboring ⁹¹Zr. The experiment ⁹⁰Zr(d,p)⁹¹Zr was conducted at the Oslo Cyclotron Laboratory (OCL). The SiRi (silicon telescope) array was used to detect charged ejectiles from the reaction. The CACTUS NaI(Tl) array was utilized to detect rays that were in coincidence with charged particles. The nuclear level density and γ SF were extracted with the Oslo method [3]. These quantities were used to calculate (n, γ) cross sections with the Talys reaction codes. In this presentation the results will be discussed.

[1] M. Guttormsen, et al., Phys. Rev. C 71, 044307 (2005).
[2] R. Schwengner, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett.111, 232504 (2013).
[3] A. Schiller, et al., Nucl. Instrum. Meth. Phys. Res. A 447, 498 (2000).

This work is based on the research supported in part by the National Research Foundation of South Africa.

Level for award<br>&nbsp;(Hons, MSc, <br> &nbsp; PhD, N/A)?

MSC

Apply to be<br> considered for a student <br> &nbsp; award (Yes / No)?

Yes