Refractive scattering of loosely bound nuclei in arbitrarily polarized laser fields

Scattering of loosely bound light heavy ions in a strong laser field with wavelength in the optical domain is discussed. Within the framework of the Kroll-Watson theory the differential cross section for an arbitrarily polarized monochromatic laser field is derived and its dependence on the number of exchanged photons, intensity, polarization, and scattering geometry is discussed. As study cases one considers the elastic scattering data of some light systems involving loosely bound and neutron rich nuclei that display strong refractive effects in the elastic scattering data at intermediate angles: 6Li on 7Li at laboratory energy E = 20 MeV and 6Li on 13C (E = 38 MeV). The role of the incoming polarized monochromatic laser field on these reactions is explored using the decomposition of the scattering amplitude in far and near side components.