Four-body effects on 9Be + 208Pb scattering and fusion around the Coulomb barrier

Abstract

We investigate the 9Be + 208Pb elastic scattering and fusion at energies around the Coulomb barrier. The $^9$Be nucleus is described in a \alpha + \alpha + n three-body model, using the hyperspherical coordinate method. The scattering with $^{208}$Pb is then studied with the Continuum Discretized Coupled Channel (CDCC) method, where the \alpha + \alpha + n continuum is approximated by a discrete number of pseudostates. Optical potentials for the $\alpha+^{208}$Pb and $n+^{208}$Pb systems are taken from the literature. We present elastic-scattering and fusion cross sections at different energies, and investigate the convergence with respect to the truncation of the \alpha + \alpha + n continuum. A good agreement with experiment is obtained, considering that there is no parameter fitting. We show that continuum effects increase at low energies.