Speaker
Description
Radiative processes are fundamental to nucleosynthesis, governing the emission and absorption of photons during nuclear reactions, and significantly influencing the energy balance, reaction rates, and the production of elemental abundances in astrophysical environments. This study systematically investigates the sensitivity of nucleon capture cross-sections and astrophysical reaction rates to variations in nuclear level density (NLD) energies for several Sn and Mo isotopes. In particular, the NLDs derived from the microscopic Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov plus combinatorial method are considered, providing a robust basis for identifying the most effective energy range for nucleon capture reactions. These results show that the 4 - 5 MeV energy interval has the greatest impact on both cross-sections and reaction rates. Moreover, significant uncertainties are observed in experimental NLDs obtained using the Oslo method, particularly within this critical energy range for 121Sn. This highlights the necessity of further experimental and theoretical investigations focused on the 4 - 5 MeV interval, which could offer valuable insights for improving level-scheme calculations. All cross-section and reaction rate calculations are performed using the Hauser-Feshbach statistical model.
