Comparison of average s-wave resonance spacings from proton and neutron resonances

Average s-wave resonance spacings were derived from high-resolution proton resonance data for 11 odd-Z nuclei in the mass range A=41–67 and compared with the average s-wave spacings obtained from neutron resonances for their odd-N isobars. After careful correction for missing levels the neutron and proton results are consistent; proton resonance data can be used to increase the data base for nuclear level densities. After correction to a common excitation energy, the spacings show a correlation with the shell correction energy $E_{\mathrm{shell}}$, especially for A=41, 55, and 59, where data exist for three isobars with quite different shell correction energies. The dependence of the average level spacing D¯ on $E_{\mathrm{shell}}$ is approximately exponential, in good agreement with the theoretical models of Ignatyuk et al. and Kataria et al. The data also have been used to calculate asymptotic a parameters in these two models. The mass dependence of these parameters can be described by the simple relation a=0.137A with an rms deviation of 4.3%. Attempts to describe the data within the Fermi gas model resulted in much larger fluctuations of the parameters with A and Z. Finally, the data were compared to the predictions of the microscopic Fermi gas model, using the single particle level scheme of Seeger and Perisho. At present, the quality of this description is still somewhat worse than with the phenomenological models of Ignatyuk et al. and Kataria et al.