title: Beyond the coherent coupled channels description of nuclear fusion.
abstract: New measurements of fusion cross sections at deep sub-barrier energies for the reactions 16O+{204,208}Pb show a steep but almost saturated logarithmic slope, unlike 64Ni-induced reactions. Coupled channels calculations cannot simultaneously reproduce these new data and above-barrier cross-sections with the same Woods-Saxon nuclear potential. It is argued that this highlights an inadequacy of the coherent coupled channels approach. It is proposed that a new approach explicitly including gradual decoherence is needed to allow a consistent description of nuclear fusion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dasgupta
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hinde
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Diaz-Torres
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bouriquet
authors.forename: Catherine I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Low
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Milburn
authors.forename: J O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Newton