Impact of collective nuclear motion on cross section predictions for representative nuclear reactions

Reliable theoretical reaction cross sections require nuclear structure inputs that remain physically meaningful over different projectile types, mass regions and reaction mechanisms. In this work, the influence of collective nuclear motion on calculated cross sections was re-examined for four benchmark like reactions: ⁴⁷Ti(d,2p)⁴⁷Sc, ⁷⁴Ge(γ,2n)⁷²Ge, ¹¹¹Cd(p,n)¹¹¹In and ¹⁶⁰Gd(n,γ)¹⁶¹Gd. Cross section curves obtained with the Collective Semi-Classical Fermi Gas Model (CSCFGM) were compared with EXFOR measurements, default TALYS calculations and TENDL-2025 evaluated residual production data. The analysis shows that the CSCFGM description reproduces the principal experimental features, including threshold behavior, peak location and post peak decrease or saturation, while the degree of improvement depends on the dominant reaction mechanism. The strongest peak agreement is obtained for the ⁷⁴Ge(γ,2n)⁷²Ge and ¹¹¹Cd(p,n)¹¹¹In reactions. The ⁴⁷Ti(d,2p)⁴⁷Sc and ¹⁶⁰Gd(n,γ)¹⁶¹Gd cases indicate additional sensitivity to deuteron breakup, optical model parameters, gamma ray strength functions and resonance like neutron capture behavior. A dedicated gamma strength sensitivity test for ⁷⁴Ge(γ,2n)⁷²Ge further demonstrates that the photonuclear peak magnitude cannot be interpreted from the NLD input alone. The novelty of the study is the reaction by reaction evaluation of a common collective NLD framework against experimental data, default TALYS and TENDL, thereby identifying both the predictive value and the limitations of collective enhancement in model based nuclear data calculations.