Gamma Radiation from Resonance Neutron Capture in Mercury

Abstract

An experiment has been performed to detect individual high-energy gamma rays associated with resonance capture in mercury, using an electron linear accelerator as a pulsed neutron source. The gamma-ray spectrum from the 34-ev resonance in the compound nucleus ${\mathrm{Hg}}^{200}$ has intense components of higher energy than does the spectrum from thermal capture in this isotope. From this it can be inferred that the spin of the 34-ev resonance is most probably 1 with negative parity.