Unified nuclear potential for heavy-ion elastic scattering, fusion, fission, and ground-state masses and deformations

We develop a unified nuclear potential for the description of large-scale nuclear collective motion and find that it satisfactorily reproduces experimental data for heavy-ion elastic scattering, fusion, fission, and ground-state masses. Obtained by generalizing the modified liquid-drop model so that two semi-infinite slabs of constant-density nuclear matter have minimum energy at zero separation, this potential is given in terms of a double volume integral of a Yukawa-plus-exponential folding function. For heavy nuclear systems the resulting heavy-ion interaction potential is similar to the proximity potential of Swiatecki and co-workers. However, for light nuclear systems our potential lies slightly below the proximity potential at all nuclear separations. For heavy nuclei fission barriers calculated with our Yukawa-plus-exponential model are similar to those calculated with the liquid-drop model. However, for light nuclei the finite range of the nuclear force and the diffuse nuclear surface lower the fission barriers relative to those calculated with the liquid-drop model. Use of a Wigner term proportional to |N-Z|A in the nuclear mass formula resolves the major part of the anomaly between nuclear radii derived from elastic electron scattering on the one hand and from ground-state masses and fission-barrier heights on the other. NUCLEAR REACTIONS ^4He+^12C, ^16O+^28Si, ^84Kr+^208Pb; calculated heavy-ion interaction potential. ^16O+^28Si, E=37. 7, 81. 0, 215. 2 MeV; calculated elastic-scattering angular distribution. ^32S+^27Al, ^35Cl+^62Ni, ^16O+^208Pb; calculated compound-nucleus cross section. Calculated fission-barrier heights and ground-state masses for nuclei throughout Periodic Table. Nuclear potential energy of deformation, liquid-drop model, droplet model, modified liquid-drop model, Yukawa-plus-exponential model, proximity potential, Woods-Saxon potential, double-folding potential, optical model, ingoing-wave boundary condition, single-particle corrections, Strutinsky's method.