Mean-field study of C+C fusion
Le Hoang Chien · Do Cong Cuong · Dao T. Khoa
The nuclear mean-field potential arising from the C+C interaction at the low energies relevant for the astrophysical carbon burning process has been constructed within the double-folding model, using the realistic nuclear ground-state density of the C nucleus and the effective M3Y nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction constructed from the G-matrix of the Paris (free) NN potential. To explore the nuclear medium effect, both the original density independent M3Y-Paris interaction and its density dependent CDM3Y6 version have been used in the folding model calculation of the C+C potential. The folded potentials at the different energies were used in the optical model description of the elastic C+C scattering at the energies around and below the Coulomb barrier, as well as in the barrier penetration model to estimate the fusion cross section and astrophysical factor of the C+C reactions at the low energies. The obtained results are in good agreement with experimental data over a wide range of energies.