Chaos driven fusion enhancement factor at astrophysical energies.
We perform molecular dynamics simulations of screening by bound target electrons in low energy nuclear reactions. Quantum effects corresponding to the Pauli and Heisenberg principles are enforced by constraints. We show that the enhancement of the average cross section and of its variance is due to the perturbations induced by the electrons. This gives a correlation between the maximum amplitudes of the internuclear oscillational motion and the enhancement factor. It suggests that the chaotic behavior of the electronic motion affects the magnitude of the enhancement factor.
Kimura
Sachie
S
Laboratorio Nazionale del Sud, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, via Santa Sofia, 62, 95123 Catania, Italy.
Bonasera
Aldo
A