Reaction mechanisms in a multichannel scattering theory for identical particles

Exchange effects in rearrangement reactions are studied in the framework of a general algebraic theory of identical-particle scattering. An algebraic definition of reaction mechanisms proposed previously is used to distinguish the contributions to scattering amplitudes made by different exchange processes. Previous statements concerning the number of possible exchange mechanisms and their relative weight factors are rigorously proved. The results of this paper differ from those obtained in previous studies, as here identical clusters of particles are also treated as indistinguishable. (author)