Nuclear Deexcitation Gamma‐Ray Lines from Accelerated Particle Interactions

Abstract

Total cross sections for the production of gamma-ray lines from nuclear deexcitation as a function of the projectile energy are evaluated and presented. Included are proton and α reactions with He, C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Al, Si, S, Ca, and Fe. Such functions are essential for interpretation of gamma-ray line observations of astrophysical sites which contain large fluxes of energetic particles such as solar flares, the Earth's atmosphere, planetary atmospheres and surfaces, the interstellar medium, and galactic nebulae.