arXiv subjects

B. Morillon

Publications and source records attributed to B. Morillon.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Neutron scattering off spherical nuclei with global nonlocal dispersive optical model

We present a global nonlocal and dispersive optical model potential for neutron scattering off spherical nuclei with incident energies up to 250 MeV. This optical model is an extension of the non-dispersive Perey-Buck potential. The imaginary components are chosen energy-dependent and the dispersive constraints are taken into account. The surface imaginary part is nonlocal, whereas the volume imaginary part above 10 MeV is local, allowing to reproduce total cross sections and scattering data for high energies. We obtain a good description of scattering observables for target-nuclei ranging from $A=16$, up to $209$. The inclusion of nonlocal spin-orbit term enables a better description of the analyzing power data relative to the local dispersive model.

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arXiv2022

Optical potentials for the rare-isotope beam era

We review recent progress and motivate the need for further developments in nuclear optical potentials that are widely used in the theoretical analysis of nucleon elastic scattering and reaction cross sections. In regions of the nuclear chart away from stability, which represent a frontier in nuclear science over the coming decade and which will be probed at new rare-isotope beam facilities worldwide, there is a targeted need to quantify and reduce theoretical reaction model uncertainties, especially with respect to nuclear optical potentials. We first describe the primary physics motivations for an improved description of nuclear reactions involving short-lived isotopes, focusing on its benefits for fundamental science discoveries and applications to medicine, energy, and security. We then outline the various methods in use today to build optical potentials starting from phenomenological, microscopic, and ab initio methods, highlighting in particular the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. We then discuss publicly-available tools and resources facilitating the propagation of recent progresses in the field to practitioners. Finally, we provide a set of open challenges and recommendations for the field to advance the fundamental science goals of nuclear reaction studies in the rare-isotope beam era.

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arXiv2021

Energy Dependence of Prompt Fission Neutron Multiplicity in the $^{239}$Pu($n,f$) Reaction

Accurate multiplicities of prompt fission neutrons emitted in neutron-induced fission on a large energy range are essential for fundamental and applied nuclear physics. Measuring them to high precision for radioactive fissioning nuclides remains, however, an experimental challenge. In this work, the average prompt-neutron multiplicity emitted in the 239Pu(n,f) reaction was extracted as a function of the incident-neutron energy, over the range 1-700~MeV, with a novel technique, which allowed to minimize and correct for the main sources of bias and thus achieve unprecedented precision. At low energies, our data validate for the first time the ENDF/B-VIII.0 nuclear data evaluation with an independent measurement and reduce the evaluated uncertainty by up to $60\%$. This work opens up the possibility of precisely measuring prompt fission neutron multiplicities on highly radioactive nuclei relevant for an essential component of energy production world-wide.

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arXiv2015

Application of the EXtrapolated Efficiency Method (EXEM) to infer the gamma-cascade detection efficiency in the actinide region

The study of transfer-induced gamma-decay probabilities is very useful for understanding the surrogate-reaction method and, more generally, for constraining statistical-model calculations. One of the main difficulties in the measurement of gamma-decay probabilities is the determination of the gamma-cascade detection efficiency. In [Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A 700, 59 (2013)] we developed the Extrapolated Efficiency Method (EXEM), a new method to measure this quantity. In this work, we have applied, for the first time, the EXEM to infer the gamma-cascade detection efficiency in the actinide region. In particular, we have considered the 238U(d,p)239U and 238U(3He,d)239Np reactions. We have performed Hauser-Feshbach calculations to interpret our results and to verify the hypothesis on which the EXEM is based. The determination of fission and gamma-decay probabilities of 239Np below the neutron separation energy allowed us to validate the EXEM.

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arXiv2015

Study of the 238U(d,p) surrogate reaction via the simultaneous measurement of gamma-decay and fission probabilities

We investigated the 238U(d,p) reaction as a surrogate for the n + 238U reaction. For this purpose we measured for the first time the gamma-decay and fission probabilities of 239U* simultaneously and compared them to the corresponding neutron-induced data. We present the details of the procedure to infer the decay probabilities, as well as a thorough uncertainty analysis, including parameter correlations. Calculations based on the continuum-discretized coupled-channels and distorted-wave Born approximations were used to correct our data from detected protons originating from elastic and inelastic deuteron breakup. In the region where the fission and gamma-decay probabilities compete, the corrected fission probability is in agreement with neutron-induced data, whereas the gamma-decay probability is much higher than the neutron-induced data. The performed statistical-model calculations are not able to explain these results.

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arXiv2013

Influence of the ab-initio nd cross sections in the critical heavy-water benchmarks

The n-d elastic and breakup cross sections are computed by solving the three-body Faddeev equations for realistic and semi-realistic Nucleon-Nucleon potentials. These cross sections are inserted in the Monte Carlo simulation of the nuclear processes considered in the International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments (ICSBEP). The results obtained using thes ab initio n-d cross sections are compared with those provided by the most renown international libraries.

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