A geometric approach to strong coupling effects in heavy-ion collisions. Deviation from the Fresnel diffraction pattern

We offer a novel interpretation of the deviation of the experimental angular distribution for elastic 18O+184W scattering at 90 MeV from the standard Fresnel diffraction pattern in terms of an interference between scattering amplitudes corresponding to different orientations of the target nucleus. The importance of Coriolis coupling, which is initially neglected in this geometric approach, is discussed in the case where long-range Coulomb coupling is active.SCOPUS: ar.j