The majority of the light elements up to iron (Fe) are formed by successive rounds of thermonuclear fusion burning in the stellar interiors. The nuclei heavier than iron (Z>26) are being synthesized mainly by neutron-capture reactions - the astrophysical r-and s-processes. There are 35 neutron deficient stable isotopes between Se and Hg which are shielded from the rapid neutron capture by stable isobars. These so-called p-nuclei are produced in explosive stellar environments via photodisintegration reactions like (γ,n), (γ,p) and (γ,α) on r- or s-seed nuclei. The reaction rates of the p-nuclei are mostly based on theoretical parameterizations using statistical model calculations. At the bremsstrahlung facility of the superconducting electron accelerator ELBE, photon-induced reactions of the p-nuclei are being studied. In the scope of this thesis work, photodisintegration measurements of the p-nuclei 92Mo and 144Sm have been performed via the photoactivation technique. The residual nuclei resulting from photoactivation were studied via γ-ray spectroscopy. For the decay measurements of short-lived nuclei, a pneumatic delivery system has been used. In the case of 144Sm(°,p) and 144Sm(γ,α) reactions, the activated samarium samples with very low counting statistics were measured at the underground laboratory "Felsenkeller" in Dresden. The experimental activation yields for the 144Sm (γ,n), (γ,p) and (γ, α) and the 92Mo(γ,α) reactions were determined. It is to be emphasized that the (γ,p) and (γ,α) reactions were measured for the first time in a laboratory at astrophysically relevant energies. In all the mentioned experiments, special care was taken to determine the endpoint energy of the bremsstrahlung spectra by using the photodisintegration of deuteron. The 197Au(γ,n)196Au reaction has been established as an activation standard. The photoactivation yields for the 197Au(γ,n) and 144Sm(γ,n) reactions have been compared to the yield calculated using cross sections from previous photoneutron experiments. A comparison of the two data sets leads to a conclusion on the inaccuracies in previous data. The statistical uncertainties involved in the activation experiments are very small except for the case of decay spectra with weak counting statistics. The systematic uncertainties are mostly from the experimental determination of photon flux. A detailed discussion of the overall uncertainty is provided. Hauser-Feshbach statistical model calculations using TALYS and NON-SMOKER codes have been performed for all the concerned reactions. The experimental activation yields, in general, agree within a factor of 2 to the simulated yields using statistical model predictions. The sensitivity of the model codes to the nuclear physics inputs like optical-model potentials, nuclear level densities and γ-ray strength functions has been tested.

The majority of the light elements up to iron (Fe) are formed by successive rounds of ther- monuclear fusion burning in the stellar interiors. The nuclei heavier than iron (Z>26) are being synthesized mainly by neutron-capture reactions - the astrophysical r-and s-processes. There are 35 neutron de¯cient stable isotopes between Se and Hg which are shielded from the rapid neutron capture by stable isobars. These so-called p-nuclei are produced in explosive stellar environments via photodisintegration reactions like (°,n), (°,p) and (°,®) on r- or s- seed nuclei. The reaction rates of the p-nuclei are mostly based on theoretical parameteriza- tions using statistical model calculations. At the bremsstrahlung facility of the superconducting electron accelerator ELBE, photon-induced reactions of the p-nuclei are being studied. In the scope of this thesis work, photodisintegration measurements of the p-nuclei 92Mo and 144Sm have been performed via the photoactivation technique. The residual nuclei resulting from photoactivation were studied via °-ray spectroscopy. For the decay measurements of short-lived nuclei, a pneumatic delivery system has been used. In the case of 144Sm(°,p) and 144Sm(°,®) reactions, the activated samarium samples with very low counting statistics were measured at the underground laboratory "Felsenkeller" in Dresden. The experimental activa- tion yields for the 144Sm (°,n), (°,p) and (°; ®) and the 92Mo(°; ®) reactions were determined. It is to be emphasized that the (°,p) and (°; ®) reactions were measured for the ¯rst time in a laboratory at astrophysically relevant energies. In all the mentioned experiments, special care was taken to determine the endpoint energy of the bremsstrahlung spectra by using the photodisintegration of deuteron. The 197Au(°,n)196Au reaction has been established as an activation standard. The photoactivation yields for the 197Au(°,n) and 144Sm(°; n) reactions have been compared to the yield calculated using cross sections from previous photoneutron experiments. A comparison of the two data sets leads to a conclusion on the inaccuracies in previous data. The statistical uncertainties involved in the activation experiments are very small except for the case of decay spectra with weak counting statistics. The systematic uncertainties are mostly from the experimental determination of photon °ux. A detailed discussion of the overall uncertainty is provided. Hauser-Feshbach statistical model calculations using TALYS and NON-SMOKER codes have been performed for all the concerned reactions. The experimental activation yields, in general, agree within a factor of 2 to the simulated yields using statistical model predictions. The sensitivity of the model codes to the nuclear physics inputs like optical-model potentials, nuclear level densities and °-ray strength functions has been tested.

The majority of the light elements up to iron (Fe) are formed by successive rounds of thermonuclear fusion burning in the stellar interiors. The nuclei heavier than iron (Z>26) are being synthesized mainly by neutron-capture reactions - the astrophysical r-and s-processes. There are 35 neutron deficient stable isotopes between Se and Hg which are shielded from the rapid neutron capture by stable isobars. These so-called p-nuclei are produced in explosive stellar environments via photodisintegration reactions like (γ,n), (γ,p) and (γ,α) on r- or s-seed nuclei. The reaction rates of the p-nuclei are mostly based on theoretical parameterizations using statistical model calculations. At the bremsstrahlung facility of the superconducting electron accelerator ELBE, photon-induced reactions of the p-nuclei are being studied. In the scope of this thesis work, photodisintegration measurements of the p-nuclei 92Mo and 144Sm have been performed via the photoactivation technique. The residual nuclei resulting from photoactivation were studied via γ-ray spectroscopy. For the decay measurements of short-lived nuclei, a pneumatic delivery system has been used. In the case of 144Sm(°,p) and 144Sm(γ,α) reactions, the activated samarium samples with very low counting statistics were measured at the underground laboratory "Felsenkeller" in Dresden. The experimental activation yields for the 144Sm (γ,n), (γ,p) and (γ, α) and the 92Mo(γ,α) reactions were determined. It is to be emphasized that the (γ,p) and (γ,α) reactions were measured for the first time in a laboratory at astrophysically relevant energies. In all the mentioned experiments, special care was taken to determine the endpoint energy of the bremsstrahlung spectra by using the photodisintegration of deuteron. The 197Au(γ,n)196Au reaction has been established as an activation standard. The photoactivation yields for the 197Au(γ,n) and 144Sm(γ,n) reactions have been compared to the yield calculated using cross sections from previous photoneutron experiments. A comparison of the two data sets leads to a conclusion on the inaccuracies in previous data. The statistical uncertainties involved in the activation experiments are very small except for the case of decay spectra with weak counting statistics. The systematic uncertainties are mostly from the experimental determination of photon flux. A detailed discussion of the overall uncertainty is provided. Hauser-Feshbach statistical model calculations using TALYS and NON-SMOKER codes have been performed for all the concerned reactions. The experimental activation yields, in general, agree within a factor of 2 to the simulated yields using statistical model predictions. The sensitivity of the model codes to the nuclear physics inputs like optical-model potentials, nuclear level densities and γ-ray strength functions has been tested.

The majority of the light elements up to iron (Fe) are formed by successive rounds of ther- monuclear fusion burning in the stellar interiors. The nuclei heavier than iron (Z>26) are being synthesized mainly by neutron-capture reactions - the astrophysical r-and s-processes. There are 35 neutron de¯cient stable isotopes between Se and Hg which are shielded from the rapid neutron capture by stable isobars. These so-called p-nuclei are produced in explosive stellar environments via photodisintegration reactions like (°,n), (°,p) and (°,®) on r- or s- seed nuclei. The reaction rates of the p-nuclei are mostly based on theoretical parameteriza- tions using statistical model calculations. At the bremsstrahlung facility of the superconducting electron accelerator ELBE, photon-induced reactions of the p-nuclei are being studied. In the scope of this thesis work, photodisintegration measurements of the p-nuclei 92Mo and 144Sm have been performed via the photoactivation technique. The residual nuclei resulting from photoactivation were studied via °-ray spectroscopy. For the decay measurements of short-lived nuclei, a pneumatic delivery system has been used. In the case of 144Sm(°,p) and 144Sm(°,®) reactions, the activated samarium samples with very low counting statistics were measured at the underground laboratory "Felsenkeller" in Dresden. The experimental activa- tion yields for the 144Sm (°,n), (°,p) and (°; ®) and the 92Mo(°; ®) reactions were determined. It is to be emphasized that the (°,p) and (°; ®) reactions were measured for the ¯rst time in a laboratory at astrophysically relevant energies. In all the mentioned experiments, special care was taken to determine the endpoint energy of the bremsstrahlung spectra by using the photodisintegration of deuteron. The 197Au(°,n)196Au reaction has been established as an activation standard. The photoactivation yields for the 197Au(°,n) and 144Sm(°; n) reactions have been compared to the yield calculated using cross sections from previous photoneutron experiments. A comparison of the two data sets leads to a conclusion on the inaccuracies in previous data. The statistical uncertainties involved in the activation experiments are very small except for the case of decay spectra with weak counting statistics. The systematic uncertainties are mostly from the experimental determination of photon °ux. A detailed discussion of the overall uncertainty is provided. Hauser-Feshbach statistical model calculations using TALYS and NON-SMOKER codes have been performed for all the concerned reactions. The experimental activation yields, in general, agree within a factor of 2 to the simulated yields using statistical model predictions. The sensitivity of the model codes to the nuclear physics inputs like optical-model potentials, nuclear level densities and °-ray strength functions has been tested.

<p>The first measurements of the two- and three-body photodisintegration of longitudinally</p><p>polarized 3He with a circularly-polarized gamma-ray beam were carried out at the High Intensity gamma-ray Source facility located at Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL). A high pressure 3He target, polarized via spin exchange optical pumping with alkali metals, was used in the experiments. The protons from the two-body photodisintegration experiment were detected using seventy two silicon surface barrier detectors of various thicknesses while the neutrons from the three-body photodisintegration were detected with sixteen 12.7 cm diameter liquid scintillator detectors. The spin-dependent cross sections and the contributions from the two- and three-body photodisintegration to the 3He Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum rule integrand were extracted and compared with state-of-the-art three-body calculations at the incident photon energies of 29.0 MeV (two-body) and 12.8, 14.7, and 16.5 MeV (three-body).</p><p>These are the first measurements of the contributions of the two- and three-body photodisintegration of 3He to the GDH integrand. These measurements were found to be in good agreement with the theoretical calculations which include the Coulomb interaction between protons in the final state. They also reveal-for the first time-the importance of the three-nucleon forces and the relativistic single-nucleon charge corrections which are responsible in the calculations for the observed difference</p><p>between the spin-dependent cross sections.</p> / Dissertation

This thesis reports the: cross section, parameterized differential cross section, and analyzing power (a.k.a. the photon asymmetry), for neutron production via the photodisintegration of the unpolarized deuteron at 18 MeV using linearly polarized photons. The data were collected in October 2010 using the High Intensity Gamma Source at the Duke Free-Electron Laser Laboratory located at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The ejectile neutrons from the photodisintegration reaction were measured using the Blowfish detector array: a spherical array of 88 BC-505 liquid organic scintillator cells which cover approximately pi steradians. The initial goal of our experiment was to perform tests on the detector characteristics and check a few potential sources of systematic error, and so uncontaminated experimental runs were only taken with the remaining beam-time. Our data are therefore not optimized for precision, and so presented a number of data analysis challenges. This thesis delineates the challenges and respective solutions. Contrary to earlier results near deuteron binding energy threshold, we see reasonable agreement with a theoretical calculation based on retarded one meson exchange with empirical cutoffs in the propagators, including: off-shell corrections, relativistic corrections and the Delta isobar degree-of-freedom. Our results show similar agreement to theory as previous experiments at 14 and 16 MeV, although we see no target length dependence: such has been observed at 20 MeV.

This thesis presents the first measurement of the d*(2380) (hexaquark) electromagnetic coupling, extracted from the deuteron photodisintegration (~γd → d* → ~np) reaction. The experiment was carried out at the Mainzer Microtron (MAMI) facility in the Institut für Kernphysik in Mainz, Germany. A racetrack microtron at the MAMI facility provided a 1557 MeV longitudinally polarised electron beam. This electron beam was directed onto a thin radiator to produce a bremsstrahlung photon beam. Diamond and amorphous (metallic) radiators were used to produce linearly and circularly polarised photons respectively. The produced bremsstrahlung photon beam was energy 'tagged' with a resolution of ~4 MeV over the photon-energy range of 150-1400 MeV using the Glasgow Photon Tagger. The tagged photons were incident on a 10 cm long liquid deuterium target. This target was surrounded by a new nucleon recoil polarimeter apparatus and placed within the Crystal Ball calorimeter at MAMI. An array of PbWO4 and BaF2 detectors (TAPS) was used to provide calorimetry at forward angles. The newly constructed large acceptance recoil polarimeter measures the polarisation of the nucleons in the final state. The combination of this new apparatus with the polarised photon beam facility gives access to a number of single and double polarisation observables. The photon beam asymmetry, Σ, and the double polarisation observable, Cx', were examined in measurements of the reaction d(→γ,→n→p) over a large range of energies with a close to full angular coverage. The observable Cx' is determined for the neutron produced in deuteron photodisintegration for the first time. The new data constrains mechanisms of deuteron photodisintegration and assesses the existence and contribution of the d*(2380) resonance.

One of the important issues of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) - the fundamental theory of strong interaction, is the understanding of the role of the quark-gluon interactions in the processes involving nuclear targets. One direction in such studies is to explore the onset of the quark gluon degrees of freedom in nuclear dynamics. The other direction is using the nuclear targets as a “micro-labs” in studies of the QCD processes involving protons and neutrons bound in the nucleus. In the proposed research, we work in both directions considering high energy photo- and electro-production reactions involving deuteron and 3 He nuclei. In the first half of the research, we study the high energy break-up of the 3 He nucleus, caused by a incoming photon, into a proton-deuteron pair at the large center of mass scattering angle. The main motivation of the research is the theoretical interpretation of recent experimental data which revealed the unprecedentedly large exponent s −17 , for the energy dependence of the differential cross section. In the present research, we extend the theoretical formalism of the hard QCD rescattering model to calculate energy and angular dependences of the absolute cross section of the γ 3 He → pd reaction in high momentum transfer limit. The second half of the research explores the deep-inelastic scattering of a polarized electron off the polarized deuteron and 3 He nuclei, to explore the quark-gluon structure of polarized neutron. The main reason of using deuteron is that it is the most simple and best understood nucleus. While the reason of using polarized 3 He as an effective polarized neutron target is that because of the Pauli-principle, the two protons in the target are in the opposite spin states and thus the neutron has all the polarization of the 3 He nucleus. However this approximation is exact only for the S-state and becomes less accurate with the increase of the internal momentum of the bound nucleons in the nucleus. There are several planned experiments which will be performed during next few years at the kinematics in which the internal momenta of the probed neutron cannot be neglected. Therefore, for the reliable interpretation of the data, all the nuclear effects, especially the effects related to the relativistic treatment of high momentum component of the nuclear wave function, should be taken into account. In this work, we developed a comprehensive theoretical framework for calculation of the all relevant nuclear effects that will allow the accurate extraction of the neutron data from deepinelastic scattering involving deuteron and 3 He targets.

A precision measurement of the d(gamma ,n)p reaction was performed at the High Intensity gamma-ray Source (HIGS), which is located at the Duke Free Electron Laser Laboratory on the campus of Duke University. The gamma-ray beams were nearly 100% linearly polarized, allowing the angular distributions of both the analyzing power and unpolarized cross section to be measured at 14 and 16 MeV. The photons were incident on a heavy water target and the neutrons from the photodisintegration reaction were detected using the Blowfish detector array, which consists of 88 liquid scintillator detectors with large angular coverage.A transition matrix element (TME) analysis was performed on the data which allowed the amplitudes of the TMEs which contribute to the reaction at these energies to be extracted. This was done by invoking Watson's theorem, which fixes the relative TME phases using the n-p scattering phase shifts, leaving the TME amplitudes as free parameters in fits to the data. The results indicated very good agreement with a recent potential model calculation for the amplitudes of the three electric dipole (E1) p-waves, which account for over 90% of the cross section at these energies.The extracted TME amplitudes were then used to construct the observable which enters into the Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn (GDH) Sum Rule integrand. The results are the first experimental indication of a positive value of the GDH integrand in the region near photodisintegration threshold. A positive value at these energies has been shown by theory to be due to relativistic contributions. / Dissertation

<p>Measurements of the three-body photodisintegration of <super>3</super>He were performed at the High Intensity &gamma-ray Source (HI&gammaS). Neutrons emitted in this reaction inside a <super>3</super>He gas target were detected with seven 12.7 cm diameter liquid scintillator detectors. Time-of-flight (TOF) and pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) techniques were used to identify neutron events. The absolute differential cross sections for the <super>3</super>He(&gamma, n)pp reaction as a function of outgoing neutron scattering angle and energy were determined from the measurements at the incident &gamma-ray energies of 11.4, 12.8, 13.5, and 14.7 MeV to within a precision better than +/- 6 %.</p><p>The absolute cross sections at each incident energy are compared to the results of Gorbunov [Gor74], phase space calculations, and state-of-the-art three-body calculations. The inclusion of the Coulomb interaction in the three-body problem has been a long-standing challenge in theoretical nuclear physics. The present experimental data were found to be in good agreement with the state-of-the-art theory, which includes a full treatment of the Coulomb interaction between</p><p>the protons in the final state [Del05].</p> / Dissertation