On the eikonal approach to nuclear diffraction dissociation

TL;DR

This paper critically revises the eikonal approximation formalism for nuclear diffraction dissociation, providing a more universally applicable formula and highlighting limitations of the commonly used approach for light targets.

Contribution

It introduces a revised, more accurate formula for nuclear diffraction dissociation applicable to any target, improving analysis of exotic nuclei breakup data.

Findings

A new formula applicable to any target for diffraction dissociation.

The commonly used formula is limited to light targets due to Coulomb effects.

The revised formalism improves the accuracy of nuclear breakup analysis.

Abstract

The study of nuclear breakup of halo and weakly bound particles has been one of the key ingredients in the understanding of exotic nuclei during the last thirty years. One of the most used methods to analyse data, in particular absolute breakup cross sections, has been the eikonal approximation. Here we revise critically the formalisms used for calculating the diffraction dissociation part of nuclear breakup and show that there is a formula that can be applied to breakup on any target, while a most commonly used formula must be restricted to light targets as it contains also the effect of Coulomb breakup calculated to first order in the sudden approximation which is well known for not being accurate.