Cross sections for the production of radionuclides by proton-induced reactions on W, Ta, Pb and Bi from thresholds up to 2.6 GeV

Extending our earlier work on cross sections for the production of residual nuclides by proton-induced reactions, the production of radionuclides from the target elements Ta, W, Pb, and Bi was investigated from thresholds up to 2.6 GeV using accelerators at LNS/Saclay, PSI/Villigen, and TSL/Uppsala. Residual nuclides were measured by X- and γ-spectrometry. We obtained more than 5000 new individual cross sections for 402 reactions. Together with the yet not published cross sections for the target elements Rb, Mo, Rh, Ag, In, Te and La and with published results of special investigations of cosmogenic nuclides, our entire consistent data base now covers the target elements C, N, O, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Rh, Ag, In, Te, Ba, La, Ta, W, Au, Pb and Bi. It contains data for about 1300 nuclear reactions and more than 24000 cross sections. Here, some phenomenological aspects of the residual nuclide production from heavy target elements are described and the capabilities of nuclear models to predict the respective cross sections are discussed. (author)