Speaker
Description
Nuclear structure and inelastic scattering have key roles in the study of the origin of elements in the Universe as well as in the modern medical treatments. A precise knowledge of reaction rates and particle absorption are of fundamental importance in the mass aggregation mechanism of r-process and increase the accuracy of radio isotopes production and radiation therapies. The theoretical description of such events is required to supplement or even provide the necessary nuclear data. For example, inelastic scattering calculations can provide direct and indirect information about reactions involving unstable targets, systems where measurements cannot be performed due to the fast decay of the nuclei involved. Most of today’s nuclei of interest are not spherical and the extra degrees of freedom associated with their deformation increases the complexity of the calculations. We are improving the predictive power of nuclear reaction calculations by combining a modern reaction formulation with the state-of-the-art nuclear structure description. We have extended the transition density formalism to reactions with deformed targets in an axially deformed QRPA (Quasi-Particle Random Phase Approximation) framework. Folding with an effective interaction provides the necessary ingredients to perform inelastic scattering predictions. One of our objectives is to obtain cross-sections for data evaluations and enable the indirect determination of neutron capture cross-sections for s-process branch points. Capture cross-sections for s-process branch points will be combined with isotopic analyses of pre-solar grains, carried out by the Stardust collaboration at LLNL, will provide valuable constraints on models of stellar evolution.