¹⁶O + ¹⁶O cluster states and their fusion to ³²S: A non-monotonic potential description

Abstract Non-monotonic (NM) nucleus-nucleus potential families rooted in the Pauli-compliant Energy Density Functional (EDF) theory and especially their behavior at higher energies have been investigated using experimental data for 16O + 16O elastic scattering in the range . At , the 16O + 16O NM potentials in a simple optical model (OM) are found to support five rotational bands of 16O + 16O bound and quasi-molecular states in 32S with the cluster global quantum numbers G = 24, 26, 28, 30 and 32. The lowest band in the experimental spectrum starting at , and having , 2+, 4+, 6+ and 8+, has been located for the first time. In the simple OM, the NM potentials are found to reproduce the experimental 16O + 16O fusion cross-sections in the energy range 12–31 MeV. The present work shows that both the 16O + 16O cluster bands and fusion cross-sections in the Coulomb barrier region can be reproduced using NM potentials.