Modeling heavy-ion fusion cross section data via a novel artificial intelligence approach.

We perform a comprehensive analysis of complete fusion cross section data with the aim to derive, in a completely data-driven way, a model suitable to predict the integrated cross section of the fusion between light-to-medium mass nuclei at above barrier energies. To this end, we adopted a novel artificial intelligence approach, based on a hybridization of genetic programming and artificial neural networks, capable to derive an analytical model for the description of experimental data. The approach enables to perform a global search for computationally simple models over several variables and a considerable body of nuclear data. The derived phenomenological formula can serve to reproduce the trend of fusion cross section for a large variety of light to intermediate mass collision systems in an energy domain ranging approximately from the Coulomb barrier to the onset of multi-fragmentation phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]