Long range absorption and other optical-model effects from strong inelastic coupling

An optical potential component is constructed to represent the effect of a strongly coupled inelastic excitation upon elastic scattering. In the particular case of quadrupole Coulomb excitation a long range imaginary potential component is derived in closed form. The effects of long range absorption upon the elastic scattering are considered in a general way by inserting this potential into a weak absorption model and deriving an elastic scattering cross section in closed form. Below the Coulomb barrier the formula takes a simple form which may be related to the semiclassical theory of Coulomb excitation. The potential component arising from nuclear excitation of an inelastic state may be evaluated numerically on a computer. Two examples computed (50 MeV α-scattering on ¹⁵⁴Sm and 60 MeV ¹⁶O scattering on ⁴⁰Ca) exhibit strong l-dependence in the potential component.