Synthetic Paths to the Heaviest Elements, W. Loveland, Oregon State University − The cross section for producing a heavy reaction product in a complete fusion reaction can be written as

where σ_capture(E_cm, J) is the "capture" cross section at center of mass energy E_c._m. and spin J and P_cn is the probability that the projectile-target system will evolve inside the fission saddle point to form a completely fused system rather than re-separating (quasifission) and W_sur is the survival probability of the completely fused system.  I will present the results of experiments to characterize these quantities in heavy element synthesis reactions.