XXX.Special mechanisms in the reaction7Li(pγ)8Be

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The course of the reaction 7Li(pγ)8Be is an unusual one: above the strong resonance at Ep =440 kev the cross section shows a background that, apart from weak resonances, increases steadily with increasing proton energy until at least Ep = 5·2 mev. It is suggested that this background has two origins: at the lower values of Ep it is due to direct radiative transitions between a free proton state and a bound state of 8Be—no compound nucleus is formed; at the higher values of Ep it is due to a process inverse to the familiar ‘giant resonances’ of photo-disintegration. The first contribution is calculated for a variety of conditions in LS and in jj coupling; the second is deduced from the known properties of neighbouring photodisintegration cross sections. The two processes together give a good account of the experimental results; there is some suggestion that the ‘radius’ of 8Be may be about 3·2 × 10−13 cm.

This publication has 29 references indexed in Scilit: