Dipole strength in Se 80 for s process and nuclear transmutation of Se 79

The dipole strength distribution of Se80 was studied in a photon-scattering experiment by using bremsstrahlung produced with an electron beam of energy 11.5 MeV at the linear accelerator ELBE. We identified 180γ transitions up to an energy of 9.6 MeV, and analyzed the strength in the quasicontinuum of the spectrum. Simulations of statistical γ-ray cascades were performed to estimate intensities of inelastic transitions and to correct the intensities of the ground-state transitions for their branching ratios. The photoabsorption cross section below the neutron-separation energy derived in this way was combined with the photoabsorption cross section obtained from an earlier (γ,n) experiment and used as an input for the calculation of Se79(n,γ) reaction rates on the basis of the statistical reaction model.