Recent developments in fusion and direct reactions with weakly bound nuclei

Abstract

In this Report we give a balanced account of the experimental and theoretical advances acquired over the last decade in the field of near-barrier fusion reactions induced by weakly bound stable and unstable nuclei. The elastic scattering and breakup reactions of these systems are also extensively reviewed as they play an important role in the fusion process. We review several theoretical tools used in the description of the data. The concepts of Complete Fusion (CF), Incomplete Fusion (ICF) and Total Fusion (TF), which is the sum of CF and ICF, are discussed and recent work on the calculation of these quantities is reviewed. The Continuum Discretized Coupled Channels (CDCC) method and its semiclassical version are described in detail and their limitations are pointed out. More importantly, we describe the salient features of the conclusions reached from the more than 40 measurements made, over a decade, of near-barrier fusion, elastic scattering and breakup reactions, and confront these data with the CDCC or other methods appropriate for these processes at the energy regime in question.