Analysis of the Nuclear Structure of $^{186}$Re Using Neutron-Induced Reactions

Evaluated nuclear structure data for $^{186}$Re identifies the majority of spin-parity assignments as tentative, with approximate values associated with the energies of several levels and transitions. In particular, the absence of known transitions that feed the $J^{\pi}=8^{+}$ isomer motivates their discovery, which would have astrophysical implications and a potential application in the development of an isomer power source. Using the GErmanium Array for Neutron Induced Excitations (GEANIE) spectrometer at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) Weapons Neutron Research (WNR) facility, the (n,2n$\gamma$) and (n,n'$\gamma$) reactions in a 99.52\% enriched $^{187}$Re target were used to measure $\gamma$-ray excitation functions in $^{186}$Re and $^{187}$Re, respectively. A preliminary analysis of the data obtained from the experiment reveals several new transitions in $^{186}$Re and $^{187}$Re.