The interaction of helium-3 ions with Samarium isotopes

The experimental process for measuring the elastic and inelastic differential cross-sections for the scattering of helium-3 ions from 148, 150, 152 and 154 Samarium isotopes at 53 MeV is described. These results complement the data taken with helium-3 on 144Sm, and with protons and deuterons on all the even Samarium isotopes at the same energy. The properties of the Samarium isotopes permit a study of the sensitivity of optical and collective model analyses on nuclei, whose characteristics change from spherical and vibrational (A = 144) to the region of permanent deformation where the nucleus is rotational (A = 154). These data are used to investigate the isotopic dependence of the optical model, particularly the recent folding models where an effective two-body interaction is folded in with the nucleonic density distribution.;The data are also used to test the nucleus-nucleus model or "double folding" model, where an effective interaction is first folded with the target density and then with the projectile density. The scattering of the incident projectiles, 3He, 4He, 12C and 16O, from Samarium isotopes is tested with this theory. The importance of using an effective interaction with the correct "saturation" properties is also shown. D.W.B.A. and S.C.A. analyses of the data are performed, and the need for coupling low lying states to the elastic scattering is shown.