Heavy Ion Discussion Group - 9 December 2022

Kelly Chipps, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Hauser-Feshbach statistical models are often used to predict the cross sections of various astrophysically-important reactions which are as-yet inaccessible experimentally. For proton-rich nucleosynthesis, the masses and energies involved may not meet the criteria needed for successfully applying the statistical model approach, as compound nucleus level densities may be too low. Individual resonances may cause orders-of-magnitude uncertainty in the predicted rates. I will present astrophysically-motivated cases of measured (α,p) reaction cross sections and compare them with Hauser-Feshbach predictions from the code TALYS, to elucidate circumstances where a statistical model approach may or may not be valid.

Donuts and coffee will be served.