Test of the Porter-Thomas distribution with the total cross section autocorrelation function
arXiv:1809.09532
Abstract
On the basis of experiments conducted in the 1970s and earlier, it is believed that, in a compound nucleus (CN), fluctuations in transition strengths are drawn from a Porter-Thomas distribution (PTD), a distribution of one degree of freedom. However, work done post-1990 at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) and Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator (ORELA) facilities has yielded instances of neutron resonance data sets of superior quality that are inconsistent with the PTD. In view of the importance of the status of the PTD to the foundations of statistical reaction theory, the question arises whether other data acquired at these facilities can be mined for evidence of deviations from the PTD? To date, the focus has been on data taken in the regime of isolated resonances. In this letter, arguments are put forward in support of the analysis of measurements of the total cross section in the regime where resonances are weakly overlapping.
arXiv comment4 pages, 1 figure
References in corpus (13)
- Random Matrices and Chaos in Nuclear Physics
- GENERALIZED CIRCULAR ENSEMBLE OF SCATTERING MATRICES FOR A CHAOTIC CAVITY WITH NON-IDEAL LEADS
- Anomalous fluctuations of s-wave reduced neutron widths of Pt resonances
- Distribution of Partial Neutron Widths for Nuclei close to a Maximum of the Neutron Strength Function
- Chaotic Scattering in the Regime of Weakly Overlapping Resonances
- Reduced neutron widths in the nuclear data ensemble: Experiment and theory do not agree
- Porter-Thomas distribution in unstable many-body systems
- Resonance width distribution for open quantum systems
- Neutron Resonance Data Exclude Random Matrix Theory
- Neutron width statistics in a realistic resonance-reaction model
- Abrupt Change in Radiation-Width Distribution for 147Sm Neutron Resonances
- Open quantum systems and Random Matrix Theory
- Uncertainties in the analysis of neutron resonance data