¹⁶O + ¹⁶O cluster states and their fusion to ³²S: A non-monotonic potential description

¹ Department of Physics, University of Rajshahi - Rajshahi 6205, Bangladesh
² Department of Physics, Beecroft Building, University of Oxford - Oxford OX1 3PU, UK
³ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham - Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
⁴ Department of Physics, Hajee Mahammad Danesh Science and Technlogy University - Dinajpur 5200, Bangladesh
⁵ Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, AERE - Ganakbari, Savar, Dhaka 1349, Bangladesh
⁶ Department of Physics, Nigde Omer Halisdemir University - 51240 Merkez Nigde, Turkey

^(a) akbasak@gmail.com (corresponding author)

Received: 15 January 2022
Accepted: 3 May 2022

Abstract

Non-monotonic (NM) nucleus-nucleus potential families rooted in the Pauli-compliant Energy Density Functional (EDF) theory and especially their behavior at higher energies have been investigated using experimental data for ¹⁶O + ¹⁶O elastic scattering in the range . At , the ¹⁶O + ¹⁶O NM potentials in a simple optical model (OM) are found to support five rotational bands of ¹⁶O + ¹⁶O bound and quasi-molecular states in ³²S with the cluster global quantum numbers G = 24, 26, 28, 30 and 32. The lowest band in the experimental spectrum starting at , and having , 2⁺, 4⁺, 6⁺ and 8⁺, has been located for the first time. In the simple OM, the NM potentials are found to reproduce the experimental ¹⁶O + ¹⁶O fusion cross-sections in the energy range 12–31 MeV. The present work shows that both the ¹⁶O + ¹⁶O cluster bands and fusion cross-sections in the Coulomb barrier region can be reproduced using NM potentials.