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Pairing dynamics and solitonic excitations in collisions of medium-mass, identical nuclei

We present results of collisions of $^{90}$Zr+$^{90}$Zr and $^{96}$Zr+$^{96}$Zr obtained within time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) extended to superfluid systems, known as time-dependent superfluid local density approximation (TDSLDA). We discuss qualitatively new features occurring in collisions of two superfluid nuclei at energies in the vicinity of the Coulomb barrier. We show that a \textit{solitonic excitation} -- an abrupt pairing phase distortion -- reported previously [P.~Magierski et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{119}, 042501 (2017)], increases the barrier for capture generating effective repulsion between colliding nuclei. Moreover we demonstrate that pairing field leads to qualitatively different dynamics at the Coulomb barrier which manifests itself in a slower evolution of deformation towards a compact shape. Last but not least, we show that magnitude of pairing correlations can be dynamically enhanced after collision. We interpret it as a dynamically induced $U(1)$ symmetry breaking, which leads to large-amplitude oscillations of pairing field and bear similarity to the pairing Higgs mechanism.