Evolving theoretical descriptions of heavy-ion fusion: from phenomenological to microscopic approaches

¹ Department of Physics, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan
² Research Center for Electron Photon Science, Tohoku University, 1-2-1 Mikamine, Sendai 982-0826, Japan
³ National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan

Published online: 22 November 2017

Abstract

We overview the current status of theoretical approaches for heavy-ion fusion reactions at subbarrier energies. We particularly discuss theoretical challenges in the coupled-channels approach, that include i) a description of deep subbarrier hindrance of fusion cross sections, ii) the role of nuclear dissipation, iii) fusion of unstable nuclei, and iv) an interplay between fusion and multi-nucleon transfer processes. We also present results of a semi-microscopic approach to heavy-ion fusion reactions, that combines the coupled-channels approach with state-of-the-art microscopic nuclear structure calculations.