Interaction and Fusion of Deformed Nuclei

It is shown that the height of the barrier and its position, as well the depth of the capture well, are highly sensitive to the relative orientation of colliding strongly deformed nuclei. It is found that the fusion/capture cross sections and the nucleus-nucleus potential for heavy nuclear systems depend greatly on the magnitude and sign of the quadrupole deformation of nuclear surfaces. In order to describe correctly the cross section for the capture of heavy strongly deformed nuclei, it is necessary to perform averaging over all three angles that describe their relative orientation. Allowance for a hexadecapole deformation leads to a significant increase in the capture cross section for very heavy nucleus-nucleus systems.