<p>Is photodisintegration belongs to a form of spallation? Is photodisintegration only limited to nucleus hit by high energy gamma-ray, whereas the nucleus in spallation can be hit by any ​high energy particles?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-28T13:24:37.293Z
I would not use spallation to refer to a photon interacting with a nucleus. May depend on usage in various subfields - for example I would use photofission, not photodisintegration, perhaps another subfield distinction.
Jon Custer
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-28T23:15:41.780Z
@JonCuster both [photodisintegration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photodisintegration) and [Photofission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photofission) seem to have Wikipedia pages and the distinction seems to be on what the outcome is; if it's light particle emission like a nucleon or alpha particle then it's the former. If what happens can be characterized as [nuclear fission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fission) (which has it's own lower mass limit ambiguity), then it's the latter.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-28T23:24:33.050Z
@uhoh - and the terminology seems to have drifted or simplified. Going back to the 1950's, articles specified photoprotons or photoneutrons or photodeuterons depending on what came out.
Jon Custer
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-28T23:35:48.527Z
@JonCuster you regularly out-earliest-applicable-reference me, *kudos!*
uhoh
<nucleosynthesis>
Photodisintegration vs Spallation
Jack the Ranger
# Photodisintegration vs Spallation

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-06-28)

Is photodisintegration belongs to a form of spallation? Is photodisintegration only limited to nucleus hit by high energy gamma-ray, whereas the nucleus in spallation can be hit by any ​high energy particles?

**Tags:** nucleosynthesis
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I would not use spallation to refer to a photon interacting with a nucleus. May depend on usage in various subfields - for example I would use photofission, not photodisintegration, perhaps another subfield distinction.  
> **username_2**: @JonCuster both [photodisintegration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photodisintegration) and [Photofission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photofission) seem to have Wikipedia pages and the distinction seems to be on what the outcome is; if it's light particle emission like a nucleon or alpha particle then it's the former. If what happens can be characterized as [nuclear fission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fission) (which has it's own lower mass limit ambiguity), then it's the latter.  
> **username_1**: @uhoh - and the terminology seems to have drifted or simplified. Going back to the 1950's, articles specified photoprotons or photoneutrons or photodeuterons depending on what came out.  
> **username_2**: @JonCuster you regularly out-earliest-applicable-reference me, *kudos!*  

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## 0 answers

