Photonuclear reactions on mercury isotopes in the region of the giant-dipole-resonance energy

The induced-activity method is used to measure yields of photonuclear reactions induced in stable mercury isotopes by beams of bremsstrahlung photons whose spectra have the endpoint energies of 19.5 and 29.1 MeV. On the basis of a collective model, the partial cross sections and yields are calculated for photoproton and photoneutron reactions on these isotopes. The yields calculated theoretically are compared with their measured counterparts. The possibility for the production in photonuclear reactions of the bypassed nucleus 196Hg, which cannot be formed in astrophysical r and s processes, is analyzed.