Isospin Selection Rule in theC12(d,α)B10Reaction

Abstract
The violation of the isospin selection rule has been studied in the reaction C12(d,α)B10 with deuteron energies between 9 and 12.5 MeV. The differential and total cross sections of the isospin-forbidden transition to the first T=1 state in B10 (the Jπ=0+ state at 1.74-MeV excitation) have been compared with the cross sections of the isospin-allowed transitions to the ground state (Jπ=3+, T=0), the first excited state (Jπ=1+, T=0 at 0.72 MeV), and the third excited state (Jπ=1+, T=0 at 2.14 MeV). Mostly the intensity of the T=1 alpha group is less than 1% of the yield of the α groups leading to the neighboring T=0 states. This reduction is due not only to isospin forbiddenness but also to angular-momentum and parity selection rules which apply in this particular (d,α) reaction for which both the initial and the final state have Jπ=0+. These weighting factors have been calculated by use of the statistical theory of nuclear reactions. After these factors have been applied, the T=1 alpha group has an intensity of about 10% relative to the other three T=0 transitions at a deuteron energy of 9 MeV and 1-2% at an energy of 11 MeV. The small yield is ascribed to the isospin selection rules that to some extent govern this T=1 transition. In the energy range from 9 to 11 MeV, the angular distribution of the T=1 state stays fairly constant and is nearly symmetric around 90°. The yield decreases steadily. At deuteron energies higher than 11.5 MeV, the angular distribution changes drastically and becomes strongly forward peaked and asymmetric around 90°, and the total yield increases slightly. We assume that this behavior indicates a direct-interaction mechanism in which the process of mixing the isospins takes place at the surface of the nucleus. Coulomb excitation during the process of d capture or α emission might be responsible for the isospin violation at these higher deuteron energies.
Keywords