Coulomb dissociation of high-energy radioactive beams: the case of 8B Original Research Article

Coulomb dissociation of 8B is an alternative method to measure the low-energy 7B(p,γ)8B cross section. This reaction is of great current interest in the context of solar neutrinos and has been studied recently both in direct proton-capture [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 (2001) 3985, Nucl. Phys. A 696 (2001) 219, Phys. Rev. C 68 (2003) 065803, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90 (2003) 022501] and in Coulomb-dissociation experiments [Phys. Lett. B 391 (1997) 261, Eur. Phys. J. A 3 (1998) 213, Phys. Rev. Lett. 83 (1999) 2910, Phys. Rev. C 63 (2001) 065806, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90 (2003) 232501]. The validity of the latter method has been questioned since the role of E2 multipolarity is considered controversial. The present experiment [Phys. Rev. Lett. 90 (2003) 232501] has studied observables that could clarify the role of a possible E2 contribution.