The Sao Paulo Potential and the 3He Breakup Reaction at 130 MeV on 93Nb and 197Au

Nuclear reactions induced by weakly bound nuclei often result in the emission of light particles as products of the projectile breakup. The incident particle is expected to fragment before reaching the interior of the target nuclei, a characteristic that tends to favor forward angular emission. Although the first models developed for such reactions were proposed many decades ago by Udagawa and Tamura, Ichimura, Austern, Vincent, and Kasano, and Hussein and McVoy, to this date most of the attention has been dedicated to the breakup of the deuteron and other very weakly bound systems, while more strongly bound projectiles have not been fully explored. Here, we describe the production of protons and deuterons from the breakup of 3He. The breakup of 3He on two heavy targets, 93Nb and 197Au, is analyzed in this study. However, the incoming energy involved is much larger than that of the standard phenomenological optical potentials available in the literature for the 3He entrance channel. We have overcome this difficulty by using the Sao Paulo potential and adjusting the nuclear diffusivity. The deuteron inclusive spectra were calculated at several angles and compared well with the experimental data. Theoretical proton emission predictions are also given for future reference, since no inclusive measurements were performed for the targets under study. One of our goals is to verify the description of deuteron emission from fast projectiles, for which many partial waves contribute to the scattering process.

Automated summary

Nuclear reactions induced by weakly bound nuclei often result in the emission of light particles, with a tendency for forward angular emission. Research has focused on deuteron breakup and other weakly bound systems, while more strongly bound projectiles have not been fully explored. The study describes proton and deuteron production from the breakup of 3He, analyzing the breakup of 3He on heavy targets and overcoming challenges in energy levels to match experimental data.