Experimental evidence and the Landau-Zener promotion in nucleus-nucleus collisions

Recent data from C+O collisions are analyzed in terms of the Landau-Zener promotion in nuclei. Evidence for the presence of this mechanism in nuclear collisions is of considerable interest, since it provides a signature of single-particle orbitals in molecular-type potentials and, at the same time, paves the way to a microscopic understanding of the collision dynamics, in particular of the energy dissipation rate. The analyzed data are of two types: integrated cross sections and angular distributions of inelastically scattered particles. The first set of data shows structure qualitatively consistent with recent calculations of the Landau-Zener effect; for this set of data no other reasonable explanation is presently available. The second set of data, while consistent with the presence of the Landau-Zener promotion, is examined in terms of other possible explanations too. The combined data show evidence favoring the presence of the Landau-Zener promotion in nucleus-nucleus collisions