Measuring and Modeling Neutron-Induced Reactions on Radioactive Nuclei

Neutron-induced reactions on radioactive nuclei are important to both applied and basic science. However, it is often extremely difficult, or even impossible, to directly measure the cross sections (or other properties) of these reactions due to the unstable nature of the reactants. Because of the importance of these reactions, a variety of indirect techniques have been developed to provide constraints on statistical models describing them. I will describe the pros and cons of several of these techniques from an experimental perspective. I will also make some comments regarding statistical calculations of neutron-induced cross sections, and I will show several practical examples of constraints of neutron-induced reactions on radioactive proton-rich nuclei and on unstable fission products.