Investigating the impact of the universal function of the nuclear proximity potential in heavy-ion fusion cross sections

Abstract

The fusion barriers and cross sections of 15 colliding systems with $320\leq Z_1Z_2 \leq 1512$ are investigated in detail to understand the influence of the universal function of proximity potential formalism in the heavy-ion fusion mechanism. To realize this goal, we select three versions of the phenomenological proximity potentials, including Prox. 77, Zhang 2013, and Guo 2013, to calculate the nucleus-nucleus potential. The experimental fusion cross sections for the selected reactions are analyzed via the standard coupled-channels (CC) calculations, including couplings to the low-lying $2^+$ and $3^-$ states in target and projectile. The calculated results show the universal functions of the Guo 2013 and Prox. 77 models provide the lowest and highest fusion barriers, respectively. In addition, it is found that the height of fusion barriers is enhanced by increasing the mass number of the projectile from light to heavy ones. The highest sensitivity to the mass number of the projectile belongs to the results of Prox. 77. A discussion is also presented about the influence of universal function on the radial behavior of the interaction potential in the allowed region for overlapping configurations. Our results reveal that the best fit to the experimental data of the fusion cross sections for the reactions involving light and medium nuclei is obtained using the universal function of the Zhang 2013 model. For the heavier systems, the results of the Guo 2013 model at sub-barrier energies provide a good description of the available data.