Quantifying Impurities in Calcium Targets for Nuclear Reaction Studies
Published:Dec 27, 2025 02:22
•1 min read
•ArXiv
Analysis
This paper addresses a crucial experimental challenge in nuclear physics: accurately accounting for impurities in target materials. The authors develop a data-driven method to correct for oxygen and carbon contamination in calcium targets, which is essential for obtaining reliable cross-section measurements of the Ca(p,pα) reaction. The significance lies in its ability to improve the accuracy of nuclear reaction data, which is vital for understanding nuclear structure and reaction mechanisms. The method's strength is its independence from model assumptions, making the results more robust.
Key Takeaways
- •Develops a data-driven method for correcting oxygen and carbon impurities in calcium targets.
- •Uses 65-MeV proton elastic scattering to determine O and C atomic ratios.
- •Applies the determined ratios to subtract O and C contributions from (p,pα) spectra.
- •The method is independent of model assumptions, enhancing reliability.
- •Enables consistent and reliable determination of Ca(p,pα) yields across the calcium isotopic chain.
Reference
“The method does not rely on assumptions about absolute contamination levels or reaction-model calculations, and enables a consistent and reliable determination of Ca$(p,pα)$ yields across the calcium isotopic chain.”