Nuclear Seminar

Molecular picture in heavy ion reactions at low energy

Professor Alexis Diaz-Torres
Department of Nuclear Physics
Australian National University

Monday, April 16, 2007   4:00 p.m.   NSH 124
(Refreshments served prior to seminar in NSH 124)

The molecular description of nuclear reactions is justified when the relative motion of the interacting nuclei is much slower than the motion of the nucleons in the volume of the system, which is expected to be valid at incident energies near and below the Coulomb barrier.  As a consequence, the nucleons near the Fermi surface move in molecular orbitals when the colliding nuclei come into contact.  The two-center shell model (TCSM) is a fundamental microscopic approach to describe this scenario.  In my talk, I will introduce a new realistic TCSM based on Woods-Saxon potentials and discuss the impact of collective and single-particle molecular effects on fusion of light and heavy nuclear systems.