20Ne(p,t)18Ne Reaction as a Test of the 18Ne and 20Ne Wave Functions

The differential cross sections for the reaction ²⁰Ne(p,t) leading to states of ¹⁸Ne were measured at a proton energy of 50 MeV. The angular distributions were analyzed in the distorted-wave Born approximation (DWBA) and the transferred angular momentum was extracted. This led to the following energy-level sequence in ¹⁸Ne: ground state, 0⁺; 1.83 MeV, 2⁺; 3.36 MeV, 4⁺; 3.58 MeV, 0⁺ and 2⁺; 4.46 MeV, 1^-; 5.12 MeV, and 6.34 MeV. A comparison was made with the predictions of DWBA calculations for the relative cross section, using various wave functions for both initial and final nuclei. It is concluded that only the wave functions which include the 1p₁₂ and 1d₃₂ configurations give satisfactory agreement with the data. The calculation of the form factor is also discussed, and its effect on the cross section is found to be large. On the whole, better agreement is achieved when using the same binding energy instead of the same well depth for all configurations.