Isoscalar transition rates from the (α, α′) reaction

Abstract

The magnitude of the differential cross-section for the (α, α′) reaction is shown to be proportional to the square of the matrix element of a microscopic, one body, isoscalar multipole transition operator. This is tested experimentally by observing the experimental equality of isoscalar and EM transition rates for Δ T = 0 transitions in T = 0 nuclei. A combination of isoscalar and EM transition rates gives informations about the neutron and proton contributions to nuclear excitation rates.