Fully damped Mott oscillations in sub-barrier elastic scattering of identical heavy ions and the nuclear interaction

TL;DR

This paper explores the disappearance of Mott oscillations in sub-barrier elastic scattering of identical heavy ions, revealing a universal effect influenced by nuclear interactions, which could help study nuclear forces.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of transverse isotropy as a signature of nuclear interaction effects on Mott oscillations in heavy-ion scattering.

Findings

Mott oscillations can disappear at a critical Sommerfeld parameter.

Short-range nuclear interactions significantly affect the oscillation pattern.

Disappearance of oscillations is a universal phenomenon at sub-barrier energies.

Abstract

We investigate the possible disappearance of Mott oscillations in the scattering of bosonic nuclei at sub-barrier energies. This effect is universal and happens at a critical value of the Sommerfeld parameter. It is also found that the inclusion of the short-range nuclear interaction has a profound influence on this phenomenon. Thus we suggest that the study of this lack of Mott oscillation, which we call, "transverse isotropy" is a potentially useful mean to study the nuclear interaction.