ABSTRACT
The subject of Coulomb excitation with heavy ions has been dealt with in detail by K. Alder and Aage Winther. This chapter summarizes some basic results, as the subject constitutes an important background for all heavy-ion experiments. A very accurate description of Coulomb excitation is obtained by assuming that the relative motion of the centers of mass of the two ions can be described classically. For large impact parameters, the trajectory is such that the two nuclei do not get into the region of nuclear interaction and the reaction can be described as a pure Coulomb excitation. For smaller impact parameters, pure Coulomb excitation will take place in the first part of the trajectory, leading to a coherently excited state of the two nuclei which is the doorway state to the nuclear reactions taking place thereafter. Through the Coulomb excitation process the ground state is depopulated as a function of time during the collision.
