Alpha-particle scattering from Ca-nuclei

The possibilities, advantages, and difficulties of determining nuclear matter densities by elastic scattering of alpha-particles are generally discussed. On the basis of particular experimental data - 104 MeV alpha-particle scattering from 40,42,44,48Ca - a refined folded potential is introduced using a density-dependent alpha-nucleon-interaction and target nucleus densities described by Fourier-Bessel-series. Thereby, the total nucleon densities of these isotopes were determined with little model dependence. The resulting root-mean-square radii and density differences are compared with other experimental results obtained by different methods. (orig.)