Inclusive inelastic scattering in distorted - wave Born - approximation - random - phase - approximation theory

We calculate the double differential cross section for inelastic scattering of protons and $\alpha$ particles on ${}_{}{}^{208}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Pb}$ and ${}_{}{}^{90}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Zr}$. We use the random-phase-approximation theory of the nucleus, and the distorted-wave Born-approximation theory of the excitation mechanism. In the continum region, excitation energies 10-25 MeV, the experimental cross section exceeds the predicted by a factor of 2-4. We conclude that multistep reactions are important and in some cases dominate at these inelasticities.