Studies in nuclear photodisintegration

Abstract

The transformations of nuclei following the absorption of photons would appear to have considerable advantages over the study of particle induced reactions for investigating nuclear structure. The chief features of the electromagnetic interaction are well understood, and the interaction is weak so that radiation may not disturb the nucleus under investigation as much as a particle reaction would. Hence one might hope that the photodisintegration process could be understood before other nuclear reactions. Unfortunately, there are difficulties on both the theoretical and experimental sides which rather offset these advantages,. the processes are expected to depend very sensitively on the details of the charge and current distribution inside the nucleus. This distribution depends not only on the nucleon motions but also, for the case of exchange forces, on the motion of the charged meson cloud. The determination of the nucleon motion is hindered by our present ignorance concerning nuclear forces and by the mathematical intractability of the many-body problem. A theoretical treatment of the exchange currents is even more difficult. (First paragraph of introduction).