Alpha clustering in 41, 45, 49Ca* nuclei formed in neutron induced reactions

Abstract

Abstract The light neutron-rich nuclei play a vital role in nucleosynthesis process and the extent of alpha (α) clustering significantly influence the astrophysical rates. Thus, it is significant to explore the α clustering in these nuclei and in the present work, we have studied the α clustering in 41,45,49Ca* nuclei formed in neutron induced reactions within the dynamical cluster decay model (DCM). The results present that with progression towards neutron-rich 45Ca* and 49Ca* nuclei, there is a significant decrease in the α-cluster preformation factor P0. The inclusion of relativistic mean field theory (RMFT) based microscopic temperature-dependent binding energies (T.B.E.) within DCM, give relatively enhanced α-cluster preformation factor for 41,45,49Ca* nuclei compared to the case of macroscopic T.B.E. based upon Davidson mass formula. The cross-section associated with α-cluster emission depicts strong isospin dependence and falls off significantly with increasing neutron number of Ca* nuclei. Further, for the first time, we inculcate the microscopic nuclear potential constructed via folding the standard Fermi form fitted RMFT cluster densities and M3Y nucleon-nucleon interaction within the DCM. The neutron skin thickness of the Ar cluster, complementary to α-cluster, is varied and its effect upon the nuclear interaction potential and α-cluster preformation factor is analysed. The results present that with growing neutron skin of Ar cluster, the α-cluster preformation factor decreases. It explores a strong correlation among the neutron skin thickness and α-cluster preformation factor in light mass 41,45,49Ca* nuclear systems.