Programme

P.45 -- Posters, VCTP-51

Date: Tuesday, 4 August 2026

Time: 09:30 - 10:30

Structure-informed α--nucleus optical potentials: from repulsive-core effects in α decay to deformed nonlocal (α,n) reactions

N. Nhu Le (1), T. T. Quynh Huong (2), C. N. Phuoc Tai (3)

(1) Faculty of Physics, University of Education, Hue University, 34 Le Loi Street, Hue City 530000, Vietnam; (2) Tran Hung Dao Primary and Secondary School (3) Faculty of Information Technology-Digital Economy, Hue Industrial College, 70 Nguyen Hue Street, Hue City 530000, Vietnam

The description of α--nucleus interactions provides a stringent test of microscopic nuclear dynamics, since both α decay and α-induced reactions are governed by barrier penetration in regions where density overlap, Pauli blocking, deformation, and exchange effects become important. In this talk, we present a unified semimicroscopic framework for the α--nucleus optical potential based on double-folding interactions supplemented by structure-dependent corrections. First, the role of a surface-type repulsive core in α decay of heavy and superheavy nuclei is discussed. The repulsive term, introduced to simulate Pauli blocking and finite nuclear incompressibility, removes the unphysical deep inner pocket of conventional double-folding potentials and reshapes the inner barrier relevant to WKB tunneling. The same framework is then extended to (α,n) reactions relevant to the γ process, where nuclear deformation is included through quadrupole and hexadecapole density components, and Pauli-type nonlocality is treated using a Perey--Buck Gaussian kernel. The results show that deformation lowers the effective Coulomb barrier and enhances sub-barrier transmission probabilities, while nonlocality further refines the radial wave function and improves the consistency of calculated cross sections. These findings indicate that short-range repulsion, deformation, and nonlocality are essential ingredients for a predictive, structure-informed α--nucleus optical potential connecting nuclear decay and astrophysical reaction dynamics.

Presenter: Nguyen Nhu Le