Radial sensitivity of elastic scattering

A new technique has been developed, employing a localized perturbation of the radial nuclear optical potential, which permits direct investigation of the sensitivities of optical model analysis of elastic scattering data to the details of the radial potential. It is found that both light- and heavy-ion scattering probe primarily the nuclear surface region. Higher energy scattering data probe further into the interior than lower energy data. The value of the potential at the center of the nucleus cannot be determined, but only inferred if a fixed parametrization such as Woods-Saxon geometry is specified. In addition, it is found that the region of radial sensitivity of the imaginary potential is systematically closer to the center of the nucleus than is that of the real potential