Multistep transfer processes in inelastic heavy ion reactions

Multistep transfer contributions in inelastic heavy ion scattering are investigated in a coupled channels model for the reaction ${}^{17}\text{O}\text{(}{}^{16}\text{O}\text{,}{}^{16}\text{O}\text{)}{}^{17}\text{O}\text{(}\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{, 0.871}\text{MeV}\text{)}$. We find that only the interference of the one- and two-step transfer contributions gives agreement with recent experimental results. This is interpreted as strong evidence for multistep processes in heavy ion scattering.