Glossary

GLOSSARY

• barn
The barn is the unit of measure of the reaction cross-section. 1 barn is equal to $10^{-24}cm^{2}$.


• Nuclear reaction 
  Process triggered by the interaction between an incident particle (projectile) and a nucleus (target). The result may be the modification of the nuclear structure. 
  
  
• Q-value
  Physical constant derived by the energy conservation law applied to the nuclear reaction. Can be either positive, negative or equal to zero and gives the amount of energy available for the reaction. 
  
  
• Radiative capture
  Process in which the projectile is adsorbed by the target nucleus which emits a gamma ray.
  
  
• Reaction channel 
  Way in which a nuclear reaction can evolve. The reaction channel is defined when the reagents and the products are defined together with their energetic states.
  
  
• Reaction cross section 
  Physical quantity related to the probability of occurrence of a specific nuclear reaction. It has the dimension of an area and is measured in barn (1 barn = $10^{-24}cm^{2}$).