Systematic study of 8B breakup cross sections

Breakup cross sections of 8B are analyzed in a two-body structure model, with an inert 7Be core and a loosely bound valence proton. The nuclear induced breakup is calculated in an eikonal approximation, and Coulomb dissociation is calculated to first order. There is a strong correlation within this model between the total E1 strength and the one-proton removal cross section σ1p. Thus we find that the measured values of σ1p for a carbon target are consistent with the E1 strength extracted in recent Coulomb dissociation experiments. The predicted σ1p values on high-Z targets are significantly larger than measured. We discuss how this discrepancy can be reduced by improving the description of Coulomb dissociation. (c) 2000 The American Physical Society