Theory of Heavy-ion Elastic Collisions Revisited

Abstract

The literature on the strong absorption theory of heavy-ion elastic collisions contains a discrepancy involving a singularity in the scattering amplitude at the critical angle qc. The formulae concerned have been carefully derived ab initio and the obscurity removed. The validity of the approximations for the scattering amplitude at angles less than and greater than qc has been examined. The insight gained has made it possible to investigate further the effect of refraction, and to consider the behaviour of the real part of the nuclear phase.