Direct production of 3-body final states from interactions between complex nuclei at 2-MeV

With a 2-MeV beam energy, the reaction 2 6Li = 3 α goes almost entirely by the direct production of three α particles. Excellent fits to the data are obtained with a finite-range Born-approximation calculation that uses distorted waves for the incoming 6Li nuclei and plane waves for the three outgoing α particles. Details of the experimental and theoretical techniques are given. The accuracy of the calculations was limited by the accuracy of the available 6Li--6Li scattering data