Reaction calculations for the 17O+12C system including fusion

Abstract

Scattering and fusion cross sections are calculated within the molecular particle-core model which describes the outermost bound neutron of 17O in a basis of eigenstates of the two-centre shell model. The coupled channel calculations include the channels of the elastic scattering of 17O on 12C, the inelastic excitation of 17O to its first excited 1/2+ state and the single-neutron transfer to the 16O+13C system. A nuclear Landau-Zener effect, which enhances the inelastic excitation of 17O from the ground state, generates structures in the calculated elastic, inelastic and transfer cross sections which agree with the experimental data. Fusion cross sections are calculated within the molecular particle-core model by utilizing the representation of the absorption cross section in terms of an integral which folds the imaginary optical potential with the radial density of the scattering wavefunctions solving the coupled equations. Fusion calculations in the experimentally measured energy range of Ecm=7-14 MeV show enhancements due to the explicit treatment of inelastic excitation and transfer of the outermost bound neutron of 17O.