Atomic recoil excitation by strongly interacting nuclei

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Abstract
The mechanism for atomic recoil excitation caused by strongly interacting nuclei is analysed using the quantum impulse approximation. The energy and momentum transfer between an active atomic electron and the colliding nuclei is considered self-consistently. A unitary operator that transforms wavefunctions and observables with a change of relative coordinates is presented to aid in the evaluation of transition matrix elements. This treatment provides a common framework for analyses of atomic recoil excitation for nuclear collisions ranging from Coulomb scattering to resonance reactions.