Proton- and neutron-halo breakups: Similarities and differences

Abstract

It is shown in this paper that the decrease of the projectile ground state binding energy in a neutron-halo nucleus and the removal of the Coulomb barrier in the proton-halo nucleus, produce a similar qualitative effect on the elastic scattering cross sections. The variation of the binding energy produces opposite effects on elastic scattering and breakup cross sections. A strongly destructive Coulomb-nuclear interference owing to the decrease of the binding energy is also obtained.