Statistically significant observation of and cross sections for a new nuclear reaction channel on 197Au with bound dineutron escape

Abstract

A new nuclear reaction channel on 197Au with the neutron as a projectile and a bound dineutron (^2n) in the output channel is considered based on available experimental observations. The dineutron is assumed to be formed as a particle-satellite, separated from the volume but not from the potential well of 196Au nucleus. The dineutron was identified by statistically significant radioactivity detection due to decay of 196gAu nuclei. Cross sections for the 197Au (n,^2n) 196gAu reaction are determined as 180 +/- 60 microbarns and 37 +/- 8 microbarns for [6.09-6.39] and [6.175-6.455] MeV energy ranges, correspondingly. Possible outcomes of dineutron detection near the surface of deformed nuclei are also raised and discussed.