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Nuclear cross sections are used in determining the nuclear reaction rate, and are governed by the reaction rate equation for a particular set of particles (usually viewed as a "beam and target" thought experiment where one particle or nucleus is the "target", which is typically at rest, and the other is treated as a "beam", which is a projectile with a given energy).
In nuclear physics, the concept of a neutron cross section is used to express the likelihood of interaction between an incident neutron and a target nucleus. The neutron cross section σ can be defined as the area in cm 2 for which the number of neutron-nuclei reactions taking place is equal to the product of the number of incident neutrons that would pass through the area and the number of ...
A barn (symbol: b) is a metric unit of area equal to 10 −28 m 2 (100 fm 2).Originally used in nuclear physics for expressing the cross sectional area of nuclei and nuclear reactions, today it is also used in all fields of high-energy physics to express the cross sections of any scattering process, and is best understood as a measure of the probability of interaction between small particles.
Cross sections can be computed for atomic collisions but also are used in the subatomic realm. For example, in nuclear physics a "gas" of low-energy neutrons collides with nuclei in a reactor or other nuclear device, with a cross section that is energy-dependent and hence also with well-defined mean free path between collisions.
The rate at which reactions occur depends on the energy and the flux of the incident particles, and the reaction cross section. An example of a large repository of reaction rates is the REACLIB database, as maintained by the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics .
Rutherford backscattering (RBS) reactions are elastic (Q = 0), and the interaction (scattering) cross-section σ given by the famous formula derived by Lord Rutherford in 1911. But non -Rutherford cross-sections (so-called EBS , elastic backscattering spectrometry ) can also be resonant: for example, the 16 O(α,α) 16 O reaction has a strong ...
The absorption neutron cross section of an isotope of a chemical element is the effective cross-sectional area that an atom of that isotope presents to absorption and is a measure of the probability of neutron capture. It is usually measured in barns. Absorption cross section is often highly dependent on neutron energy. In general, the ...
Although the thermal neutron fission cross section (σ f) of the resulting 233 U is comparable to 235 U and 239 Pu, it has a much lower capture cross section (σ γ) than the latter two fissile isotopes, providing fewer non-fissile neutron absorptions and improved neutron economy. The ratio of neutrons released per neutron absorbed (η) in 233 U