On the imaginary part of the form factor for inelastic excitations in heavy-ion reactions

Abstract

An explicit formula is obtained for the imaginary inelastic transition form factor which accounts for second-order excitation processes. The transfer of nucleons back and forth between projectile and target is found to be the leading higher-order effect. This result and the close connection which is obtained between the imaginary form factor and the absorptive part of the optical potential explains the main features of the macroscopic prescription commonly used in data analyses.