Integrated cross sections for excitation of nuclear isomers by inelastic photon scattering at giant resonance

Abstract

In the view of the evidences arising from our experimental and theoretical studies, the long-standing picture of a two-humped excitation function for photoexcitation of isomers cannot be confirmed. Whereas the first maximum (at the photoneutron threshold) of the cross section of nuclear photon scattering can be attributed to inelastic (compound) scattering, the second large peak at about giant dipole resonance is mostly due to the elastic (direct) process. A second large peak or increase reported to appear in isomer production has been shown to be practically vanishing. On realizing such a situation, calculated estimates have been given for saturated integral cross section values for isomer activation, based on photoabsorption cross sections taken from the usual Lorentzian parametrization up to the photoneutron threshold. Results compare reasonably well to available experimental data acquired by gamma-ray spectrometry in a large set of stable nuclides having long-lived isomeric states.