Neutron Inelastic Scattering from Some Collective Nuclear States

Fast neutrons from a reactor were used to produce, by inelastic scattering, excited states in various isotopes of Mg, Al, Ti, Cr, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mo, and Pb. The median energy of neutrons producing these excited states was approximately 2 to 3 MeV. Gamma rays emitted by the excited nuclei were observed with a NaI(Tl) crystal. After several corrections, the relative probabilities for exciting the various states by neutron inelastic scattering were obtained from the gamma-ray yields. A correlation is noted between the measured relative probability for exciting a nuclear state by neutron inelastic scattering and the reduced quadrupole transition probability, $B\left(E2\mathrm{}\right)\mathrm{}$, of that state, obtained from Coulomb excitation experiments.