Speaker
Description
Nuclear level densities (NLDs) and $\gamma$-ray strength functions ($\gamma$SFs) are key ingredients in the statistical description of compound nuclear reactions. Despite decades of development, significant uncertainties remain in their modeling. In this work, we study the impact of NLDs and $\gamma$SFs on $(n,\gamma)$ cross sections and Maxwellian-averaged reaction rates for nuclei in the iron region. NLDs are calculated using the Moments Method (MM), a shell-model-based statistical approach, and implemented in the TALYS reaction code. To enable their use in reaction calculations, the MM level densities are extended to higher excitation energies and supplemented with a phenomenological treatment of opposite-parity states. A systematic exploration of model combinations within TALYS is performed to quantify the sensitivity of calculated observables to both NLD and $\gamma$SF inputs. Comparisons with evaluated nuclear data and astrophysical databases show that the MM-based calculations reproduce the overall trends of the cross sections and reaction rates. The results indicate that, while variations in the NLD contribute to the overall uncertainty, the $\gamma$SF constitutes the dominant source of variation in the predicted observables.
Acknowledgement - This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. 2412851.