Weisskopf-Ewing and Hauser-Feshbach calculations of photonuclear cross sections used for electromagnetic dissociation

The Weisskopf-Ewing (WE) and Hauser-Feshbach (HF) theory are statistical methods, which are often used to calculate photonuclear cross sections for compound nucleus reactions. In our past work, WE methodology was presented and photonuclear reaction cross sections for nucleon emission were calculated using WE theory. Here, our previous results, which neglect pre-equilibrium emissions and do not include multiple particle emission, are compared to those calculated with HF theory and experimental data. For the reactions considered herein, it is found that the WE theory and HF method are in reasonable agreement below the two neutron separation energy assuming an energy dependent branching ratio for intermediate and heavy nuclei. In addition, qualitative confidence of WE theory for electromagnetic dissociation (EMD) cross section calculations was found.