Multistep compound processes in heavy-ion-induced reactions

Abstract

We suggest the possible contribution of multistep compound processes to light heavyion reactions at above-barrier energies. The presence of several correlation widths that characterize the fluctuation in energy of the excitation functions for different incidentoutgoing channel combinations is indicated and demonstrated explicitly for the system $^{12}\mathrm{C}$($^{15}\mathrm{N}$, $\ensuremath{\alpha}$) at ${E}_{\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{m}.}=9.51\ensuremath{-}17.33$ MeV. The importance of multistep compound processes to heavy-ion fusion studies is pointed out.NUCLEAR REACTIONS Multistep compound processes in heavy ion reactions discussed.