Absolute cross section for the photodisintegration of deuterium

Abstract

Accurate absolute cross sections for the photodisintegration of deuterium were experimentally determined, using an absorption method, at the following photon energies: 5.97, 7.25, 7.60, 7.64, 8.80, 9.00, and 11.39 MeV with uncertainties generally less than 3%. The photon beams were produced by thermal neutron capture, and the absorption through 2 m absorbers of ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$O and ${\mathrm{D}}_{2}$O was measured. The results are in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions with a preference for calculations using soft core potentials and including explicitly the effects of meson-exchange currents.