Enhancement of neutron capture rates for deformed nuclei and impact on the $r$-process nucleosynthesis calculations
T. Kawano, M. Mumpower, J. L. Ullmann
Published JPS Conf. Proc. 14, 010612 (2017)
We calculate neutron radiative capture cross sections for medium to heavy mass nuclei with the statistical Hauser-Feshbach theory, and compare with recommended cross sections in the evaluated nuclear data libraries, ENDF/B-VII.1 and JENDL-4. We introduce an M1 scissors mode into the $\gamma$-ray decay channel, and estimate the strength of M1 by comparing calculated cross sections with the evaluated data. We show the estimated M1 enhances the neutron capture cross sections for deformed nuclei. A simple sensitivity study is performed to test this enhancement for the nucleosynthesis calculations.