The Angular Distribution of Resonance Disintegration Products

For resonance symmetry considerations alone are found to give definite results on the angular distribution of the products of nuclear reactions. Formulae are developed for general coupling and Russell-Saunders coupling. It is found that the distribution is axially symmetric about the direction of the incident particle. It is also symmetric about the equatorial plane. The expression for the distribution is usually restricted to a small number of terms in an expression in spherical harmonics. These results are applied to the reactions: D²+D²{→}H³+H¹; B¹¹+H¹{→}Be⁸+He⁴, Li⁷+H¹{→}2He⁴, and Li⁶+H²{→}Li⁷+H¹. For Russell-Saunders coupling the distribution for these reactions is uniquely determined by the assignment of the quantum number to the states involved.