The slopes of sub-barrier heavy-ion fusion excitation functions shed light on the dynamics of quantum tunnelling

The slopes of sub-barrier heavy-ion fusion excitation functions shed light on the dynamics of quantum tunnelling | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article The slopes of sub-barrier heavy-ion fusion excitation functions shed light on the dynamics of quantum tunnelling Alberto Stefanini, Giovanna Montagnoli, Mirco Del Fabbro, Lorenzo Corradi, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3937532/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Quantum tunnelling plays a crucial role in heavy-ion fusion reactions at sub-barrier energies, especially in the context of nuclear physics and astrophysics. The nuclear structure of the colliding nuclei and nucleon transfer processes represent intrinsic degrees of freedom. They are coupled to the relative ion motion and, in general, increase the probability of tunnelling. The influence of couplings to nucleon transfer channels relatively to inelastic excitations, on heavy-ion fusion cross sections, is one of the still open problems in this field. We present a new analysis of several systems, based on the combined observation of the energy-weighted excitation functions Eσ in relation to their first energy derivatives d(Eσ)/dE. The relation between d(Eσ)/dE and Eσ removes the basic differences due to the varying Coulomb barrier when comparing different systems. We show that, depending on the nuclear structure and/or the presence of strong transfer channels, this representation reveals characteristic features below the barrier. The possible presence of cross section oscillations makes this analysis less clear for light- or medium-light systems. PACS Numbers: 25.70.Jj, 24.10.Eq Physical sciences/Physics/Nuclear physics Physical sciences/Physics/Nuclear physics/Experimental nuclear physics Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3937532","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":271771428,"identity":"63c58359-a06d-4df6-8acf-2071aaee90c4","order_by":0,"name":"Alberto Stefanini","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1207-8273","institution":"INFN - 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