Low-energy heavy-ion reactions and the Skyrme effective interaction

Abstract The Skyrme effective interaction, with its multitude of parameterisations, along with its implementation using the static and time-dependent density functional (TDHF) formalism has allowed for a range of microscopic calculations of low-energy heavy-ion collisions. These calculations allow variation of the effective interaction along with an interpretation of the results of this variation informed by a comparison to experimental data. Initial progress in implementing TDHF for heavy-ion collisions necessarily used many approximations in the geometry or the interaction. Over the last decade or so, the implementations have overcome all restrictions, and studies have begun to be made where details of the effective interaction are being probed. This review surveys these studies in low-energy heavy-ion reactions, finding significant effects on observables from the form of the spin–orbit interaction, the use of the tensor force, and the inclusion of time-odd terms in the density functional.