Proximity formulae for folding potentials

The proximity formulae of Brink and Stancu are applied to folding potentials. A numerical study is made for the case of single folding potentials with Saxon-Woods form factors. We find that a proximity formula is accurate to 1–2% at separations of the order of the radius of the Coulomb barrier and that first order corrections due to finite curvature are important. The approximations involved are discussed.