The Shape Method and Status of the Photon Strength Function Database

Nuclear data in the quasi-continuum have increasingly garnered attention due to their central role in a vast array of applications spanning fields such as isotope production, fission and fusion reactor technologies, non-proliferation, and the fundamental sciences of nuclear astrophysics and nuclear structure. These data are characterized by the photon strength function (PSF) and nuclear level density (NLD), and their measurements have and will continue to play a central role as these are inputs for the statistical Hauser-Feshbach model. This facilitates the extraction of neutron-capture cross-section data even for nuclei where direct measurements are not feasible. Now, PSF and NLD measurements in previously inaccessible regions of the nuclear chart have become possible due to many facilities worldwide offering enhanced or new state-of-the-art research infrastructure.