Theory and Applications of Coulomb Excitation

Because the interaction is well-known, Coulomb excitation is one of the best tools for the investigation of nuclear properties. In the last 3 decades new reaction theories for Coulomb excitation have been developed such as: (a) relativistic Coulomb excitation, (b) Coulomb excitation at intermediate energies, and © multistep coupling in the continuum. These developments are timely with the advent of rare isotope facilities. Of special interest is the Coulomb excitation and dissociation of weakly-bound systems. I review the Coulomb excitation theory, from low to relativistic collision energies. Several applications of the theory to situations of interest in nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics are discussed.