Feshbach-Kerman-Koonin analysis of 93Nb reactions: P→Q transitions and reduced importance of multistep compound emission

We have implemented multistep compound (MSC) and multistep direct (MSD) preequilibrium theories of Feshbach, Kerman, and Koonin (FKK) for the calculation of nucleon-induced reactions. Unlike most previous analyses, which have concentrated on just one of these multistep mechanisms, we consider both mechanisms as well as subsequent Hauser-Feshbach equilibrium emission, and describe the complete nucleon emission spectra and angular distributions quantum mechanically. We compare theoretical calculations of (n,n') and (n,p) reactions on 93Nb at energies of 14, 20, and 25.7 MeV with experimental data. Our analysis suggests that the FKK theory should be modified to allow transitions from the MSD to MSC preequilibrium chains, and shows MSC processes to be less important than previously thought. We find that the MSD mechanism dominates preequilibrium emission even for incident neutron energies as low as 14 MeV. A model to account for preequilibrium flux cascading from the MSD to MSC chain is presented, and we check its validity with a least-squares fit to data which establishes the experimentally observed partitioning between MSD and MSC