Effects of nuclear structure in heavy element formation dynamics

The effects of nuclear structure can be manifested at three stages of the reaction dynamics: through the effect of channel couplings in overcoming the entrance channel potential barrier; in damping of the relative motion leading to capture; and in diffusion over the potential energy surface resulting in fusion or quasifission outcomes. This sequence of coupled processes offers many and subtle opportunities for nuclear structure to play a role in affecting the dynamics, and thus the outcomes. Recent experimental results, in particular mass-angle distributions (MAD), have isolated different ways in which nuclear structure has been shown to play a significant role in determining reaction outcomes.