Temperature-tuned Maxwell-Boltzmann neutron spectra for kT ranging from 30 up to 50keV for nuclear astrophysics studies

The need of neutron capture cross section measurements for astrophysics motivates present work, where calculations to generate stellar neutron spectra at different temperatures are performed. The accelerator-based ⁷Li(p,n)⁷Be reaction is used. Shaping the proton beam energy and the sample covering a specific solid angle, neutron activation fo rmeasuring stellar-averaged capture cross section can be done. High-quality Maxwell–Boltzmann neutron spectra are predicted. Assuming a general behavior of the neutron capture cross section a weighted fit of the spectrum to Maxwell–Boltzmann distributions is successfully introduced.