Dynamic polarization in the Coulomb dissociation of 8B -: art. no. 044609

The Coulomb dissociation of B-8 on high-Z targets can be described by first-order perturbation theory at high beam energies but the far-field approximation, which is commonly used, becomes inaccurate at impact parameters less than similar to25 fm. The leading-order correction at lower beam energies is a dynamic polarization effect, which reduces the dissociation probability. The relative significance of the effect scales roughly as Z/E in terms of the target charge Z and beam energy E. The reduction due to a destructive Coulomb-nuclear interference, on the other hand, is rather modest.