Investigating the (n, γf) Reaction as a Way of Studying the Properties of Transitions between Highly Excited States in Heavy Nuclei

Abstract

The history and current status of investigations of the unique two-step (n, γf) reaction observed in heavy nuclei under the influence of neutrons are discussed using the example of measurements made on the neutron time-of-flight spectrometer GNEIS in Gatchina. It is shown what is already known and what kind of information can be derived from experiments to study the (n, γf) reaction on resonance neutrons for the most important fissionable nuclei $^{235}$U and $^{239}$Pu, including information on the properties of primary gamma transitions between highly excited states near the neutron bonding energy.