Quasi-real photons as a probe of exotic nuclei

Abstract

Coulomb excitation is an inelastic process in which either the target or the projectile is excited by the Coulomb interaction, which can equivalently be described as the absorption of a virtual photon. We discuss Coulomb excitation at relativistic energies, with particular emphasis on Coulomb dissociation, in which an excited projectile subsequently breaks up.

Comments: Invited chapter to the Encyclopedia of Nuclear Physics (Elsevier), 24 pages, 12 figures