Mean proton and α-particle reduced widths of the Porter-Thomas distribution and astrophysical applications

I. Pogrebnyak, C. Howard, C. Iliadis, R. Longland, and G. E. Mitchell
Phys. Rev. C 88, 015808 – Published 31 July 2013

Abstract

The Porter-Thomas distribution is a key prediction of the Gaussian orthogonal ensemble in random matrix theory. It is routinely used to provide a measure for the number of levels that are missing in a given resonance analysis. The Porter-Thomas distribution is also of crucial importance for estimates of thermonuclear reaction rates where the contributions of certain unobserved resonances to the total reaction rate need to be taken into account. In order to estimate such contributions by randomly sampling over the Porter-Thomas distribution, the mean value of the reduced width must be known. We present mean reduced width values for protons and α particles of compound nuclei in the A=2867 mass range. The values are extracted from charged-particle elastic scattering and reaction data that were measured at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory over several decades. Our new values differ significantly from those previously reported that were based on a preliminary analysis of a smaller data set. As an example for the application of our results, we present new thermonuclear rates for the 40Ca(α,γ)44Ti reaction, which is important for 44Ti production in core-collapse supernovae, and compare with previously reported results.

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  • Received 29 May 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.88.015808

©2013 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

I. Pogrebnyak1, C. Howard1,2, C. Iliadis1,2, R. Longland3,4, and G. E. Mitchell2,5

  • 1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3255, USA
  • 2Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, North Carolina 27708-0308, USA
  • 3Departament de Física i Enginyeria Nuclear, EUETIB, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, c/ Comte d'Urgell 187, E-08036 Barcelona, Spain
  • 4Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC), Ed. Nexus-201, C/ Gran Capitá 2-4, E-08034 Barcelona, Spain
  • 5Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA

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Issue

Vol. 88, Iss. 1 — July 2013

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