Intermediate energy Coulomb excitation as a probe of nuclear structure at radioactive beam facilities

C. A. Bertulani, A. E. Stuchbery, T. J. Mertzimekis, A. D. Davies

Published 2003-05-01, updated 2003-09-03Version 2

The effects of retardation in the Coulomb excitation of radioactive nuclei in intermediate energy collisions (Elab ~100 MeV/nucleon) are investigated. We show that the excitation cross sections of low-lying states in 11Be, {38,40,42}S and {44,46}Ar projectiles incident on gold and lead targets are modified by as much as 20% due to these effects. The angular distributions of decaying gamma-rays are also appreciably modified.