Low-energy fusion of heavy ions is a fascinating coupling-assisted quantum tunneling problem, whose understanding is crucial for advancing the synthesis of new elements and isotopes. Quantum dynamical coupled-channels calculations of laser-assisted ${}^{16}\mathrm{O}+{}^{238}\mathrm{U}$ fusion are presented for both a central collision and the total fusion cross sections, suggesting that laser-nucleus interaction can enhance the average ${}^{16}\mathrm{O}+{}^{238}\mathrm{U}$ fusion probability by $6\text{–}60\%$ at sub-barrier energies using quasistatic laser fields of intensity ${10}^{27}\text{–}{10}^{29}$ ${\mathrm{W}\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}$ and photon's energy of 1 eV. Femtosecond laser pulses are shown to reduce this enhancement by many orders of magnitude.

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• Low & intermediate energy heavy-ion reactions
• Nuclear fusion
• Nuclear reactions