Theoretical study of $\mathrm{Nb}$ isotope productions by muon capture reaction on ${}^{100}\mathrm{Mo}$

Abstract

The isotope ${}^{99}\mathrm{Mo}$, the generator of ${}^{99m}\mathrm{Tc}$ used for diagnostic imaging, is supplied by extracting from fission fragments of highly enriched uranium in reactors. However, a reactor-free production method of ${}^{99}\mathrm{Mo}$ is searched over the world from the point of view of nuclear proliferation. Recently, ${}^{99}\mathrm{Mo}$ production through a muon capture reaction was proposed and it was found that about $50\%$ of ${}^{100}\mathrm{Mo}$ turned into ${}^{99}\mathrm{Mo}$ through ${}^{100}\mathrm{Mo}\left({\mu }^{-},\mathrm{n}\right)$ reaction [arXiv:1908.08166]. However, the detailed physical process of the muon capture reaction is not completely understood. We, therefore, study the muon capture reaction of ${}^{100}\mathrm{Mo}$ by a theoretical approach. We used the proton-neutron QRPA to calculate the muon capture rate. The muon wave function is calculated with considering the electronic distribution of the atom and the nuclear charge distribution. The particle evaporation process from the daughter nucleus is calculated by a statistical model. From the model calculation, about $38\%$ of ${}^{100}\mathrm{Mo}$ is converted to ${}^{99}\mathrm{Mo}$ through the muon capture reaction, which is in a reasonable agreement with the experimental data. It is revealed that negative parity states, especially $1^{-}$ state, play an important role in ${}^{100}\mathrm{Mo}\left({\mu }^{-},\mathrm{n}\right){}^{99}\mathrm{Nb}$. The feasibility of ${}^{99}\mathrm{Mo}$ production by the muon capture reaction is also discussed. Isotope production by the muon capture reaction strongly depends on the nuclear structure.

arXiv comment9 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables, RIKEN-QHP-426, RIKEN-iTHEMS-Report-19

References in corpus (12)

• Shape Coexistence and the Effective Nucleon-Nucleon Interaction
• Beta decay of r-process waiting-point nuclei in a self-consistent approach
• Gamow-Teller strength and the spin-isospin coupling constants of the Skyrme energy functional
• A new Skyrme interaction with improved spin-isospin properties
• Finite Amplitude Method for Charge-Changing Transitions in Axially-Deformed Nuclei
• Muon capture, continuum random phase approximation and in-medium renormalization of the axial-vector coupling constant
• Muon capture on nuclei with N > Z, random phase approximation, and in-medium renormalization of the axial-vector coupling constant
• Muon capture reaction on ${}^{100}Mo$ to study nuclear responses for double beta decays and astro-neutrinos
• Coherent photonuclear reactions for isotope transmutation
• Muon capture on nuclei: random phase approximation evaluation versus data for 6 $\le$ Z $\le$ 94 nuclei
• Relativistic QRPA calculation of muon capture rates
• Nuclear Isotope Production by Ordinary Muon Capture Reaction

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Ab initio calculation of muon capture on ${}^{24}$Mg
• Muon Capture on ${}^6$Li, ${}^{12}$C, and ${}^{16}$O from $AbInitio$ Nuclear Theory
• Nuclear Many-Body Effect on Particle Emissions Following Muon Capture on ${}^{28}$Si and ${}^{40}$Ca