Experimental discovery of the Landau-Zener effect in atomic nuclei

Abstract

The above considerations have shown evidence that under certain conditions, the Landau-Zener promotion mechanism known from atomic physics is also present in nuclear collisions. Thus the same quantum mechanical effect has been observed in atomic and nuclear physics; furthermore, this effect is closely related to the Zener effect observed in solid semiconductors. This discovery has its intellectual attraction, as it corresponds to our desire of unification of the laws of nature. In heavy-ion reaction theory, however, this discovery has an additional fundamental aspect. The nuclear Landau-Zener effect is, in fact, a characteristic signature of the persistence of single-particle orbitals in TCSM diagrams, essential in understanding the basis of the application of the two-centre shell model to reactions between heavy ions. The observation of this effect provides direct evidence for the persistence of single-particle molecular effects in nuclear heavy-ion collisions.