N14(N14,N13)N15Reaction and the Neutron Tunneling Mechanism

Angular-distribution and total-cross-section measurements have been made for the ${}_{}{}^{14}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{N}$(${}_{}{}^{14}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{N}$,${}_{}{}^{13}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{N}$)${}_{}{}^{15}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{N}$ reaction over a range of energies. For center-of-mass energies below about 6.5 MeV, the tunneling theory of neutron transfer is shown to give a good account of the data. At higher energies, nuclear absorption occurs for the close collisions and spoils the tunneling description. These results show why earlier descriptions of this reaction by the tunneling theory were unsuccessful.