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In view of the great interest in liquid argon neutrino detectors, the $^{40}$Ar(γ,γ′)$^{40}$Ar reaction was revisited to guide a calculation of the neutral current neutrino cross section at supernova energies. Using the nuclear resonance fluorescence technique with a monoenergetic, 99% linearly polarized photon beam, we report a three-fold increase in magnetic dipole strength at around 10 MeV in $^{40}$Ar. Based on shell-model calculations, and using the experimentally identified transitions, the neutral current neutrino cross sections for low-energy reactions on $^{40}$Ar are calculated.

The $E2/M1$ multipole mixing ratio of the ${1}_{\text{sc}}^{+}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{2}_{1}^{+}\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray transition and therefore the $F$-vector $E2$ decay of the scissors mode of the shape-phase transitional nucleus $^{152}\mathrm{Sm}$ have been measured with the nuclear resonance fluorescence method at the High-Intensity $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray Source ($\mathrm{HI}\ensuremath{\gamma}\mathrm{S}$). Furthermore, parity quantum numbers of several dipole-excited states have been remeasured, making use of the polarized $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray beam at $\mathrm{HI}\ensuremath{\gamma}\mathrm{S}$, and partially reassigned. The new data enable an unambiguous determination of the proton and neutron effective boson quadrupole charges within the proton-neutron interacting boson model. With the well-constrained parameter set, a new mixed-symmetry state is predicted.

Background: Numerous studies of the ground-state decay of the pygmy dipole resonance (PDR) have been carried out in the past. However, data on the decay of the PDR to low-lying excited states is still very scarce due to limitations of the sensitivity to weak branching transitions of experimental setups.Purpose: We present a detailed examination of the low-energy dipole response of $^{128}\mathrm{Te}$ and $^{130}\mathrm{Te}$ below their neutron separation thresholds of 8.8 and 8.5 MeV, respectively.Methods: Photonuclear reactions with the subsequent $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray spectroscopy of the decay channel with continuous-energy bremsstrahlung at varying endpoint energies and linearly polarized quasimonochromatic $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray beams with energies ranging from 2.7 to 8.9 MeV in steps of roughly 250 keV were used for probing the decay behavior of the low-energy dipole response in $^{128}\mathrm{Te}$ and $^{130}\mathrm{Te}$. In addition, $(\stackrel{P\vec}{\ensuremath{\gamma}},{\ensuremath{\gamma}}^{\ensuremath{'}}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}^{\ensuremath{'}\ensuremath{'}})$ reactions were used to study the population of low-lying states of $^{128}\mathrm{Te}$.Results: Spin-parity quantum numbers and reduced transition probabilities are determined for individual photo-excited states. The analysis of average decay properties for nuclear levels in narrow excitation-energy bins enable the extraction of photoabsorption cross sections, average branching ratios to the ${2}_{1}^{+}$ state, and the distinction between $E1$ and $M1$ transitions to the ground state and to the ${2}_{1}^{+}$ state accounting for resolved and unresolved transitions.Conclusions: Above 5 MeV, the experimental data are in reasonable agreement to calculations within the quasiparticle phonon model. The major fraction of the ground-state decay channel is due to $E1$ transitions, while less than $5--10$% stem from $M1$ transitions. Furthermore, first direct experimental evidence is provided that the population of the ${2}_{1}^{+}$ state of $^{128}\mathrm{Te}$ via primary $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray transitions from excited states in the PDR region from 5 to 9 MeV is dominated by $E1$ transitions of ${1}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ states.

The $^{169}\mathrm{Tm}(n,2n)^{168}\mathrm{Tm}$ and $^{169}\mathrm{Tm}(n,3n)^{167}\mathrm{Tm}$ cross sections have been measured in the neutron energy range between 15 and 21 MeV using the $^{3}\mathrm{H}(d,n)^{4}\mathrm{He}$ neutron source reaction. The $^{169}\mathrm{Tm}(n,3n)^{167}\mathrm{Tm}$ data are intended to provide an accurate database for interpreting so-called reaction-in-flight neutron yields, which provide a sensitive tool for studying properties of the deuterium-tritium plasma created in inertial confinement fusion laser shots at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The data are compared to previous data and evaluations for the reaction studied and are found to be in good agreement with the ENDF/B-VIII.0 evaluation, although small adjustments are necessary for the $^{169}\mathrm{Tm}(n,3n)^{167}\mathrm{Tm}$ reaction. For the first time in any $(n,2n)$ cross-section measurements to date, a comprehensive data set ranging from threshold to 21 MeV has been obtained by the same group.

Isomeric fission products, such as ${}^{134m}\mathrm{Te}$ (${T}_{1/2}=164$ ns) and ${}^{136m}\mathrm{Xe}$ (${T}_{1/2}=2.95\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{s}$), are proposed as a signature of special nuclear materials in active interrogation applications. To test this conjecture, monoenergetic 9, 11, and 13 MeV photons from the $\mathrm{HI}\ensuremath{\gamma}\mathrm{S}$ facility are used to induce fission of ${}^{235}\mathrm{U}$, ${}^{238}\mathrm{U}$, and ${}^{239}\mathrm{Pu}$ targets. The de-excitation $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ rays of the isomers are measured using time-gated spectroscopy with high-purity germanium detectors. The ${}^{134m}\mathrm{Te}$ and ${}^{136m}\mathrm{Xe}$ isomers are detected and identified by the energy and decay half-life of their characteristic $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray transitions. The ratio of yields for these two signature $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ rays, corresponding to ${}^{134m}\mathrm{Te}/{(}^{136m}\mathrm{Xe}{+}^{136}\mathrm{I})$, is found to be strongly correlated with the identity of the fissioning nuclei. These results show that fission-product isomers may be used in active interrogation to detect and identify special nuclear materials, even providing information on the isotopic enrichment. The feasibility of an active interrogation scenario using a bremsstrahlung beam is discussed.

The low-lying dipole strength of the deformed nucleus 156Gd was investigated in the energy region from 3.1 MeV to 6.2 MeV using the method of nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRF). The NRF experiments were performed at the Darmstadt High Intensity Photon Setup (DHIPS) at Technische Universitat Darmstadt using unpolarized continuous-energy bremsstrahlung and at the High-Intensity γ-ray Source (HIγS) at Duke University using quasi-monoenergetic and linearly-polarized photon beams. The combination of both experiments allows to separate electric and magnetic contributions and to determine absolute transition strengths for individual excited states as well as averaged quantities over narrow excitation energy regions. The investigated energy regions cover the region of the scissors mode as well as the low-energy part of the Pygmy Dipole Resonance. This is the first experiment where both of these excitation modes as well as the region in between has been successfully studied in a deformed heavy nucleus using the NRF method.

For the first time the de-excitation cross section of the isomeric-state nuclide 180 m Ta has been measured with mono-energetic photon beams in the 1.56 MeV to 3.70 MeV energy range. The measurement of this inelastic scattering cross section on nature’s rarest isotope was performed at eight energies at the High-Intensity Gamma-Ray Source Facility with natural tantalum targets. After irradiation for typically 20 h with photon fluxes ranging from 0 . 3 × 1 0 7 γ /( cm 2 × s) to 3 . 2 × 1 0 7 γ /( cm 2 × s), the 180 m Ta de-excitation cross section was obtained from the yield of the K α 1 and K α 2 X rays of 180 m Hf at 55.79 keV and 54.61 keV, respectively, produced after electron capture on the unstable 180 m Ta ground state. The cross-section values found vary between ( 2 . 0 ± 0 . 7 ) mb and ( 4 . 7 ± 1 . 5 ) mb, providing a very large cross section for the de-excitation of 180 m Ta. Extensive tests were performed to check on the reliability of the present data. The effect of bremsstrahlung photons of higher energy than the mono-energetic beam was carefully studied and corrected for. It was found that even a very small contamination of the mono-energetic photon beam by bremsstrahlung photons with E γ > 7 . 6 MeV can provide a sizable yield of 180 m Hf X rays via the reaction 181 Ta ( γ , n ) 180 Ta, if a natural tantalum target is used, which contain four orders of magnitude more 181 Ta nuclei than 180 m Ta nuclei available for the 180 m Ta ( γ , γ ′ ) 180 Ta reaction of interest.

Most theoretical approaches used in nuclear astrophysics to model the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements incorporate the so-called statistical model in order to describe the excitation and decay properties of atomic nuclei. One of the basic assumptions of this model is the validity of the Brink–Axel hypothesis and the related concept of so-called photon strength functions to describe γ-ray transition probabilities. We present a novel experimental approach that allows for the first time to experimentally determine the photon strength function simultaneously in two independent ways by a unique combination of quasi-monochromatic photon beams and a newly implemented γ–γ coincidence setup. This technique does not assume a priori the validity of the Brink–Axel hypothesis and sets a benchmark in terms of the detection sensitivity for measuring decay properties of photo-excited states below the neutron separation energy. The data for the spherical off-shell nucleus $^{128}$Te were obtained for γ-ray beam-energy settings between 3 MeV and 9 MeV in steps of 130 keV for the lower beam energies and in steps of up to 280 keV for the highest beam settings. We present a quantitative analysis on the consistency of the derived photon strength function with the Brink–Axel hypothesis. The data clearly demonstrate a discrepancy of up to a factor of two between the photon strength functions extracted from the photoabsorption and photon emission process, respectively. In addition, we observe that the photon strength functions are not independent of the excitation energy, as usually assumed. Thus, we conclude, that the Brink–Axel hypothesis is not strictly fulfilled in the excitation-energy region below the neutron separation threshold (Sn=8.78MeV) for the studied case of $^{128}$Te.

The dipole strength of the $N=28$ closed-shell nuclide $^{54}\mathrm{Fe}$ was studied in photon-scattering experiments using bremsstrahlung produced with electron beams of kinetic energies of 7.5 and 13.9 MeV at the $\ensuremath{\gamma}\mathrm{ELBE}$ facility as well as using quasimonoenergetic and linearly polarized photon beams of 26 different energies within the range from 5.5 to 11.4 MeV at the $\mathrm{HI}\ensuremath{\gamma}\mathrm{S}$ facility. About 100 $J=1$ states were newly identified, out of them 19 with ${1}^{+}$ and 30 with ${1}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ assignments. The quasicontinuum of unresolved transitions was included in the analysis of the spectra and the intensities of branching transitions were estimated on the basis of simulations of statistical $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray cascades. As a result, the photoabsorption cross section up to the neutron-separation energy was determined and compared with predictions of the statistical reaction model. The experimental $M1$ strengths from resolved ${1}^{+}$ states are compared with results of large-scale shell-model calculations.

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The dipole strength of the nuclide 66Zn was studied in photon-scattering experiments using bremsstrahlung produced with electron beams of energies of 7.5 and 13.4 MeV at the γELBE facility as well as using quasi-monoenergetic and linearly polarized photon beams of 30 energies within the range from 4.3 to 9.9 MeV at the HIγS facility. About 140 J = 1 states were identified, out of them 9 with 1+ and 84 with 1- assignments. The quasicontinuum of unresolved transitions was included in the analysis of the spectra and the intensities of branching transitions were estimated on the basis of simulations of statistical γ-ray cascades. As a result, the photoabsorpton cross section up to the neutron-separation energy was determined and compared with predictions of the statistical reaction model. The experimental M1 strengths from resolved 1+ states are compared with results of large-scale shell-model calculations.

The dipole strength of the nuclide Zn66 was studied in photon-scattering experiments using bremsstrahlung produced with electron beams of energies of 7.5 and 13.4 MeV at the γELBE facility as well as using quasimonoenergetic and linearly polarized photon beams of 30 energies within the range of 4.3 to 9.9 MeV at the HIγS facility. A total of 128 J=1 states were identified, among them 9 with 1+ and 86 with 1- assignments. The quasicontinuum of unresolved transitions was included in the analysis of the spectra and the intensities of branching transitions were estimated on the basis of simulations of statistical γ-ray cascades. As a result, the photoabsorption cross section up to the neutron-separation energy was determined and compared with predictions of the statistical reaction model. The experimental M1 strengths from resolved 1+ states are compared with results of large-scale shell-model calculations.