Role of the Exit-Channel Distorting Potential in Heavy-Ion-Induced Inelastic Scattering

The application of the distorted-wave Born approximation (DWBA) to inelastic scattering is examined. Particular attention is given to the ${}_{}{}^{16}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{O}$ + ${}_{}{}^{40}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Ca}$ system. The one-channel optical-potential wave function is found to be an adequate representation of the entrance-channel relative motion. The choice of exit-channel distorting potential DWBA is found to be crucial and a procedure to choose it correctly is discussed.