New empirical formula for (γ, n) reaction cross section near GDR peak for elements with Z≥60

Abstract: A new empirical formula has been developed that describes the (γ, n) nuclear reaction cross sections for isotopes with Z≥60. The results were supported by calculations using TALYS—1.6 and EMPIRE—3.2.2 nuclear modular codes. The energy region for incident photon energy has been selected near the giant dipole resonance (GDR) peak energy. The evaluated empirical data were compared with available data in the experimental data library EXFOR. The data produced using TALYS—1.6 and EMPIRE—3.2.2 are in good agreement with experimental data. We have tested and presented the reproducibility of the present new empirical formula. We observe the reproducibility of the new empirical formula near the GDR peak energy is in good agreement with the experimental data and shows a remarkable dependency on key nuclei properties: the neutron, proton and atomic number of the nuclei. The behavior of nuclei near the GDR peak energy and the dependency of the GDR peak on the isotopic nature are predicted. An effort has been made to explain the deformation of the GDR peak in (γ, n) nuclear reaction cross sections for some isotopes, which could not be reproduced with TALYS—1.6 and EMPIRE—3.2.2. The evaluated data have been presented for the isotopes ¹⁸⁰W, ¹⁸³W, ²⁰²Pb, ²⁰³Pb, ²⁰⁴Pb, ²⁰⁵Pb, ²³¹Pa, ²³²U, ²³⁷U and ²³⁹Pu, for which there are no previous measurements.