Investigation of Coulomb reorientation effect on fusion barrier distribution in the ²⁴Mg+⁹⁰Zr reaction

Internal degrees of freedom of the fusing nuclei, such as vibrational (spherical), rotational (deformed), and neutron transfer play crucial role in the fusion dynamics. Coupling of these degrees of freedom with relative motion during fusion at energies around the barrier enhance the fusion cross section over one-dimensional barrier transmission predictions. It has been proposed that in case of static quadrupole deformation, the fusion cross section which is anticipated to be enhanced due to the above mentioned channel coupling would be suppressed owing to reorientation of the fusing partner in the mutual Coulomb field. In principle, experimental signatures of this 'Coulomb reorientation effect' can be seen through fusion barrier distribution (FBD). In the present paper we report investigations for the 'Coulomb reorientation effect' on the FBD for ²⁴Mg+⁹⁰Zr and ¹⁶O+⁹⁰Zr systems using quasi-elastic measurements