Hindrance in heavy-ion fusion for lighter systems of astrophysical interest

The hindrance in fusion of heavy-ion reactions crops up in the region of extreme sub-barrier energies. This phenomenon can be effectively analyzed using a simple diffused barrier formula derived assuming a Gaussian distribution of fusion barrier heights. Folding the Gaussian barrier distribution with the classical expression for the fusion cross section for a fixed barrier, the fusion cross section is obtained. The energy dependence of the fusion cross section provides good description to the existing data on sub-barrier heavy-ion fusion for lighter systems of astrophysical interest. Using this simple formula, an analysis has been presented from \(^{16}\)O + \(^{18}\)O to \(^{12}\)C + \(^{198}\)Pt, all of which were measured down to \(