On the validity of dwba for deuteron stripping: (I). The Mitra three-body model

Previous work showing that there exists an exact formulation of the DWBA for stripping in the S-wave, separable potential, three-body model of Mitra is discussed and extended. The one-body equation obeyed by the c.m. wave function used in the reformulated DWBA is derived and compared with the equation obeyed by the wave function used in the standard formulation of DWBA, viz., the deuteron elastic scattering wave function. Results obtained by other workers on application of three-body methods to direct reactions are discussed in light of the fact that an exact DWBA exists for the separable potential model.