Nuclear Level Densities for Modeling Nuclear Reactions: An Efficient Approach Using Statistical Spectroscopy

The general goal of the project is to develop and implement computer codes and input files to compute nuclear densities of state. Such densities are important input into calculations of statistical neutron capture, and are difficult to access experimentally. In particular, we will focus on calculating densities for nuclides in the mass range A ∼ 50-100. We use statistical spectroscopy, a moments method based upon a microscopic framework, the interacting shell model. Second year goals and milestones: Develop two or three competing interactions (based upon surface-delta, Gogny, and NN-scattering) suitable for application to nuclei up to A = 100. Begin calculations for nuclides with A = 50-70