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The role of spherical quantum shells in the competition between fusion and quasi-fission is studied for reactions forming heavy elements. Measurements of fission fragment mass distributions for different reactions leading to similar compound nuclei have been made near the fusion barrier. In general, more quasi-fission is observed for reactions with non-magic nuclei. However, the 40Ca + 208Pb reaction is an exception, showing strong evidence for quasi-fission, though both nuclei are doubly magic. Time-dependent Hartree–Fock calculations predict fast equilibration of N/Z in the two fragments early in the collision. This transfer of nucleons breaks the shell effect, causing this reaction to behave more like a non-magic one in the competition between fusion and quasi-fission. Future measurements of fission in reactions with exotic beams should be able to test this idea with larger N/Z asymmetries.
Simenel et al. (Tue,) studied this question.