Role of the nuclear surface in the formation of total cross sections for heavy-ion reactions

Abstract

Within the Glauber-Sitenko approach, a procedure for calculating cross sections for intermediate-energy heavy-ion reactions is developed by using the analytic form of the eikonal phase for the symmetrized Woods-Saxon potential. The differential and total cross sections obtained on this basis comply well with the results derived by numerically solving the wave equation. A clear and instructive model of the phase is constructed, which makes it possible to separate, in total reaction cross sections, the contributions of the internal and the peripheral region of interaction. It is found that the nuclear surface plays an important role in the formation of reaction cross sections, and the effect of the Coulomb field on these cross sections is investigated. The origin of a continuous ambiguity in optical potentials is revealed in interpreting total cross sections.