Importance of whispering gallery resonances for nuclear scattering from weakly bound or unstable nuclei

Internal surface standing wave resonances can occur when either electromagnetic or acoustic waves interact with cylindrical or spherical material structures. These resonances are often termed whispering gallery resonances, a reference to the focusing of sound within a cylindrical gallery. Here, a report is presented of an investigation to establish the importance of such surface standing wave resonances for nuclear wave scattering from unstable or weakly bound nuclei. To facilitate the investigation an analytical model, the transitional rotational model, has been developed to probe the occurrence of whispering gallery phenomena within nuclear wave scattering. Understanding such phenomena can be relevant when nuclear structure information are derived from scattering experiments. Moreover, it can also be important for the understanding of nuclear pathways leading to stellar explosions.