Mean-field description of heavy-ion scattering at low energies and fusion

• Published in: Nuclear science and techniques Vol. 29; no. 12; pp. 102 - 111
• Main Authors: Khoa, Dao T., Chien, Le Hoang, Cuong, Do Cong, Phuc, Nguyen Hoang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Singapore 01.12.2018; Department of Nuclear Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Faculty of Physics and Engineering Physics, University of Science, VNU-HCM, 227 Nguyen Van Cu Street, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology, VINATOM, 179 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi, Vietnam%Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology, VINATOM, 179 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi, Vietnam
• Subjects: Energy; Hadrons; Heavy Ions; Nuclear Energy; Nuclear Physics; Fusion; Folding model; Elastic scattering
• ISSN: 1001-8042; 2210-3147
• DOI: 10.1007/s41365-018-0517-7

The nuclear mean-field potential built up during the 12 C + 12 C and 16 O + 16 O collisions at low energies relevant for the carbon- and oxygen-burning processes is constructed within the double-folding model (DFM) using the realistic ground-state densities of 12 C and 16 O, and CDM3Yn density-dependent nucleon–nucleon (NN) interaction. The rearrangement term, indicated by the Hugenholtz–van Hove theorem for the single-particle energy in nuclear matter, is properly considered in the DFM calculation. To validate the use of the density-dependent NN interaction at low energies, an adiabatic approximation was suggested for the dinuclear overlap density. The reliability of the nucleus–nucleus potential predicted through this low-energy version of the DFM was tested in the optical model (OM) analysis of the elastic 12 C + 12 C and 16 O + 16 O scattering data at energies below 10 MeV/nucleon. These OM results provide a consistently good description of the elastic angular distributions and 90 ∘ excitation function. The dinuclear mean-field potential predicted by the DFM is further used to determine the astrophysical S factor of the 12 C + 12 C and 16 O + 16 O fusions in the barrier penetration model. Without any adjustment of the potential strength, our results reproduce the non-resonant behavior of the S factor of the 12 C + 12 C and 16 O + 16 O fusions very well over a wide range of energies.