Gamma-ray production from⁵²Cr(n, xγ) reactions at 14.6 MeV

Summary

We study γ-ray production from⁵²Cr(n, xγ) reactions at 14.6 MeV neutron incident energy. Measured data relevant to production cross-sections for discrete γ-rays, total γ-ray spectrum and average γ-ray multiplicities, are analyzed in terms of the advanced statistical model of nuclear reactions, including pre-equilibrium emission of primary particles and γ-rays. The latter proves useful in rough description of high-energy part of the γ-ray spectrum. We find that integral quantities and data involving sufficient averaging (such as total γ-ray production, average γ-ray energies, average γ-ray multiplicities) can be predicted with a good precision. This is valid also for strong discrete γ lines. Generally, however, discrete γ-ray production cross-sections cannot be safely predicted better than within a factor of two. Things may be even worse for particular portions of the total γ-ray spectrum. Our findings set limits on predictability of many requested γ-ray production data even by most carefully applied theoretical methods.