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Title: Information theory and statistical nuclear reactions II. Many-channel case and Hauser-Feshbach formula

Journal Article · · Ann. Phys. (N.Y.); (United States)

The information approach developed in paper I is applied to the case of systems having a large number of channels (n>>1) and arbitrary optical matrices S-bar. The fluctuation cross section is explicitly evaluated using the maximum information-entropy S-matrix distribution constructed to reproduce S-bar and constrained solely by flux conservation, time reversal invariance, causality, and ergodicity. The resulting expression is found to be the well-known Hauser-Feshbach formula. The evaluation of the cross section is performed with the aid of an auxiliary S-matrix (obtained by a specific mapping from the physical one) which is distributed according to the invariant volume element. The joint distribution for the elements of the physical S-matrix is evaluated in the limit n>>1 and found to be Gaussian.

Research Organization:
Physics Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
OSTI ID:
5468835
Journal Information:
Ann. Phys. (N.Y.); (United States), Vol. 161:2
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English