This work investigates one- and two-neutron transfer in the ${}^{96}\mathrm{Zr}+{}^{40}\mathrm{Ca}$ reaction at sub-barrier energies using a microscopic framework based on time-dependent covariant density functional theory (TD-CDFT). Pairing correlations are incorporated via the time-dependent BCS approximation, which is shown to significantly enhance pair transfer, as evidenced by an increased two-neutron transfer probability. The oblate deformation of ${}^{96}\mathrm{Zr}$ causes the transfer probabilities to vary by orders of magnitude with orientation; a direct comparison with experiment is enabled by averaging results over thirteen systematically chosen orientations. While the orientation-averaged one-neutron transfer probabilities agree well with data, the two-neutron channel is suppressed below the Coulomb barrier. This suppression is attributed to missing quantum fluctuations in the semiclassical TD-CDFT approach. To test this, we employ the generalized time-dependent generator coordinate method, which confirms that quantum fluctuations are essential for an accurate description of sub-barrier two-neutron transfer dynamics.

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• Low & intermediate energy heavy-ion reactions
• Nuclear reactions
• Transfer reactions
• Nuclear density functional theory
• Nuclear many-body theory