Fusion hindrance in light and heavy systems

Abstract

The phenomenon of hindrance in sub-barrier heavy-ion fusion has been confirmed by several experimentalevidences and it is now recognised as a general phenomenon of heavy-ion fusion process. In many cases the signature of fusion hindrance lies in the trend of the logarithmic slope of the excitation function and of the S factor at low energies. The comparison with stadard Coupled-Channels calculations is a more quantitative evidence for its existence. In many medium-heavy systems the hindrance effect has been recognised with different features depending on the various couplings to the inelastic and transfer channels. Different theoretical appro ches have been proposed to explain the hindrance but the underlying physics is still a matter of debate. Hindrance is observed in light systems, independent of the sign of the fusion Q-value, with different features. In the case of the 12C + 30Si system the effect is smallbut it is clearly observed. Near-by cases show evidence for systematic behaviours. A very recent experiment has concerned the lighter case 12C + 24Mg where hindrance shows up clearly, because a maximum of the S factor appears already at a relatively high cross section σ=1.6mb. The consequences for the dynamics of stellar evolution have to be clarified by further experimental and theoretical work.