Proton Total Reaction Cross Sections for Calcium 40 between 20 and 50 MeV

A complete understanding of the nucleus would require a thorough knowledge of the nucleon-nucleon force and a theory similar to quantum mechanics to explain observed nuclear properties. Until this understanding has been developed, the best correlation of experimental data with the physical nature of the nucleus is derived from phenomenological models. While the compound nucleus and collective models have been successful in explaining low-energy and static phenomena, the optical model has become an important tool for dealing with higher-energy interactions