$^{64}$Ni+$^{64}$Ni fusion reaction calculated with the density-constrained time-dependent Hartree-Fock formalism

TL;DR

This paper uses the density-constrained TDHF method to study $^{64}$Ni+$^{64}$Ni fusion, revealing how nuclear alignment and core polarization influence fusion barriers and cross sections.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of the density-constrained TDHF formalism to account for nuclear alignment and core polarization effects in fusion reactions.

Findings

Alignment causes a fusion barrier distribution.

Core polarization significantly impacts fusion cross sections.

Dynamical Coulomb excitation affects sub-barrier fusion energies.

Abstract

We study fusion reactions of the $^{64}$Ni+$^{64}$Ni system using the density-constrained time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) formalism. In this formalism the fusion barriers are directly obtained from TDHF dynamics. In addition, we incorporate the entrance channel alignments of the slightly deformed (oblate) $^{64}$Ni nuclei due to dynamical Coulomb excitation. We show that alignment leads to a fusion barrier distribution and alters the naive picture for defining which energies are actually sub-barrier. We also show that core polarization effects could play a significant role in fusion cross section calculations.