https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-020-00310-w
Regular Article – Theoretical Physics
Study of cluster structures in nuclei through the ratio method
A tribute to Mahir Hussein
1
Institut für Kernphysik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099, Mainz, Germany
2
Physique Nucléaire et Physique Quantique (CP 229), Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 1050, Brussels, Belgium
3
Department of Physics, University of Surrey, GU2 7XH, Guildford, UK
4
National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, 48824, East Lansing, MI, USA
Received:
26
September
2020
Accepted:
19
November
2020
Published online:
15
December
2020
For one-neutron halo nuclei, the cross sections for elastic scattering and breakup at intermediate energy exhibit similar angular dependences. The Recoil Excitation and Breakup (REB) model of reactions elegantly explains this feature. It also leads to the idea of a new reaction observable to study the structure of loosely-bound nuclear systems: the Ratio. This observable consists of the ratio of angular distributions for different reaction channels, viz. elastic scattering and breakup, which cancels most of the dependence on the reaction mechanism; in particular it is insensitive to the choice of optical potentials that simulate the projectile-target interaction. This new observable is very sensitive to the structure of the projectile. In this article, we review a series of previous papers, which have introduced the Ratio Method and its extension to low beam energies and proton-halo nuclei.
© The Author(s) 2020
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