Continuous particle spectra and their angular distributions

The angular distribution of continuous particle spectra in pre-equilibrium reactions is still an unsolved problem, particularly so at forward angles. In the present work, the angular distributions of alpha particles emitted in (α, α',x) reactions in the target elements gold and rhodium have been studied in detail. Alpha particle beams of energy 60 MeV from the Variable Energy Cyclotron of Calcutta were used in these experiments. The theoretical calculations were done using an extended exciton model of Kalbach incorporated into the Computer Code PRECO-D2. The formalism used in the exciton model was modified to include division of pre equilibrium cross section into multi-step direct (MSD) and multi-step compound (MSC) components. These MSD and MSC cross sections were used to calculate the angular distributions in terms of Legendre polynomials whose coefficients are given by simple phenomenological relations. Even with a reasonable set of parameters, the agreement between theory and experiment was far from satisfactory at forward angles. Similar conclusion was also drawn in the case of continuous particle spectra of deuterons in (d, d'x) reactions at 25 MeV in various targets. (author). 10 refs., 2 figs