Eur. Phys. J. A (2017) 53: 178
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2017-12371-9

Regular Article - Theoretical Physics

Toward a complete theory for predicting inclusive deuteron breakup away from stability

¹ Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University, 48824, East Lansing, MI, USA
² Department of Physics, Central Michigan University, 48859, Mt. Pleasant, MI, USA
³ Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, Center for the Evolution of the Elements, 48824, East Lansing, MI, USA
⁴ Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica, DCTA, 12.228-900, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil
⁵ Department of Physics, Washington University, 63130, St. Louis, MO, USA
⁶ Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 94550, Livermore, CA, USA
⁷ Departamento de Física Matemática, Instituto de Física, Universidade de São Paulo, C.P. 66318, 05314-970, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
⁸ Instituto de Estudos Avançados, Universidade de São Paulo, C.P. 72012, 05508-970, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
⁹ Departamento de FAMN, Universidad de Sevilla, Apartado 1065, 41080, Sevilla, Spain
¹⁰ Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 94720, Berkeley, CA, USA
¹¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, 48824-1321, East Lansing, MI, USA
¹² Physics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 37831, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

^* e-mail: potel@nscl.msu.edu

Received: 24 May 2017
Accepted: 24 August 2017
Published online: 11 September 2017

Abstract

We present an account of the current status of the theoretical treatment of inclusive (d, p) reactions in the breakup-fusion formalism, pointing to some applications and making the connection with current experimental capabilities. Three independent implementations of the reaction formalism have been recently developed, making use of different numerical strategies. The codes also originally relied on two different but equivalent representations, namely the prior (Udagawa-Tamura, UT) and the post (Ichimura-Austern-Vincent, IAV) representations. The different implementations have been benchmarked for the first time, and then applied to the Ca isotopic chain. The neutron-Ca propagator is described in the Dispersive Optical Model (DOM) framework, and the interplay between elastic breakup (EB) and non-elastic breakup (NEB) is studied for three Ca isotopes at two different bombarding energies. The accuracy of the description of different reaction observables is assessed by comparing with experimental data of (d, p) on ^40,48Ca. We discuss the predictions of the model for the extreme case of an isotope (⁶⁰Ca) currently unavailable experimentally, though possibly available in future facilities (nominally within production reach at FRIB). We explore the use of (d, p) reactions as surrogates for processes, by using the formalism to describe the compound nucleus formation in a reaction as a function of excitation energy, spin, and parity. The subsequent decay is then computed within a Hauser-Feshbach formalism. Comparisons between the and induced gamma decay spectra are discussed to inform efforts to infer neutron captures from reactions. Finally, we identify areas of opportunity for future developments, and discuss a possible path toward a predictive reaction theory.