Photonuclear Interaction of N≠Z Light Nuclei Using Few-Nucleon Correlated Structures

Abstract

The energetic photons in the quasi-deuteron region are expected to interact with few-nucleon correlated structures and clusters present in light nuclei. Hence, the photonuclear reaction cross-section for light nuclei like ⁶Li, ⁷Li, ⁷Be, ¹²C, ¹⁵N, ¹⁶O etc., can be evaluated by summing the cross-sections of their constituent 2N, 3N correlated structures, and α-clusters. After a detailed analysis of the photonuclear processes for deuteron, tritium, ³He, and ⁴He and assuming that the photonuclear cross-section of quasi-deuterons/quasi-tritium/quasi-³He and α-cluster can be evaluated by scaling the appropriate expressions for their free counterparts, we have obtained the photonuclear reaction cross-sections for light nuclei ⁷Li, ⁷Be, and ¹⁵N. The (γ, N) contribution from quasi-α structures themselves may account for a significant fraction of the GDR cross-section. The present work proposes a modification of the quasi-deuteron model of Levinger for light nuclei by considering quasi-tritium and quasi-³He structures along with quasi-deuteron structures. Some of the testable predictions for the current approach are also outlined.