Neutron Transfer Studies On Mg-25 And Its Correlation To Neutron Radiative Capture Processes

Radiative neutron capture reactions play an important role in nuclear astrophysics. In some cases direct neutron capture reaction studies are not possible and neutron transfer reactions have been suggested as a surrogate approach. We have performed a detailed study of the Mg-25(d, p) Mg-26 reaction at a beam energy of 56 MeV as a surrogate reaction to the radiative neutron capture reaction Mg-25(n, gamma) Mg-26. A large number of neutron bound and unbound states between 10.6 and 12.1 MeV excitation energy in Mg-26 were observed. Angular distribution analysis provided information about the orbital momentum transfer populating these levels. The comparison with resonances observed in the Mg-25(n, gamma) Mg-26 reaction indicate that different levels in Mg-26 are being populated through the two reaction mechanisms, causing substantial discrepancies in the reaction-rate prediction. This result demonstrates that neutron transfer reaction studies may not necessarily lead to reliable predictions for neutron capture reaction rates.