6–10 Jul 2026
University of the Western Cape
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
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Study of Nuclear Reactions Induced by Weakly Bound Projectiles

7 Jul 2026, 17:20
1h 20m
Great Hall (University of the Western Cape)

Great Hall

University of the Western Cape

Poster Presentation Track B - Nuclear, Particle and Radiation Physics Poster Session 1

Speaker

Mr Happy Vilakazi (UNISA)

Description

Weakly bound and halo nuclei, with low binding energies and extended spatial distributions, provide a unique testing ground for nuclear forces and reaction dynamics. Despite lot of studies done on this, unresolved questions remain regarding breakup mechanisms—particularly whether projectiles dissociate on incoming or outgoing trajectories at deep sub-barrier energies ( [1 - 2]). This research employs the Continuum-Discretized Coupled Channels (CDCC) method ([3]; [8]) to investigate breakup and transfer reactions, incorporating microscopic nucleus–nucleus potentials derived from double-folding procedures and energy density functionals ([5]; [7]). These approaches include nuclear structure effects such as pairing and spin–orbit interactions, addressing limitations of phenomenological Woods–Saxon potentials ([4]; [6]). Comparative analysis of breakup observables ([9]; [10]) will clarify the structural role of weakly bound projectiles. The findings have broader implications for astrophysics, nuclear medicine, and advanced nuclear energy technologies.

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Author

Mr Happy Vilakazi (UNISA)

Co-authors

Presentation materials

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