Lack of Evidence for Shell Effects in the (n,p) and (n,α) Reaction Cross Sections at 14 MeV Neutron Energy

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Abstract
The systematics of cross sections for (n,p) and (n,a) re-actions induced by 14 - 15 MeV neutrons have been reinvesti-gated. No clear evidence for the existence of any proton shell effects in these two reactions was found. The existence of shell effects in nuclear reactions induced by 14 - 15 MeV neutrons has been postulated by several workers1-4 , but the evidence presented has been rather weak. With the availability of more and better experimental data in recent years, a fresh look at this postulate seemed highly desirable. In case of (n,p) and (n,2n) reactions, the claim for the occurence of shell effects has already been recently repudiated5,6 ; but for (n,α) reactions there seems to exist no evidence against the original claims1,2 that the cross section shows a minimum when the atomic number of the re-sidual nucleus is a magic number. The present article describes briefly a reinvestigation of the systematics of the (n,p) and (n,α) reaction cross sections in the light of the latest experimental data. At 14 MeV neutron energy there appears to be no conclusive evidence for any significant proton shell effects in these two re-actions.

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