Theory and Applications of Coulomb Excitation

Because the interaction is well-known, Coulomb excitation is one of the best tools for the investigation of nuclear properties. In the last 3 decades new reaction theories for Coulomb excitation have been developed such as: (a) relativistic Coulomb excitation, (b) Coulomb excitation at intermediate energies, and (c) multistep coupling in the continuum. These developments are timely with the advent of rare isotope facilities. Of special interest is the Coulomb excitation and dissociation of weakly-bound systems. I review the Coulomb excitation theory, from low to relativistic collision energies. Several applications of the theory to situations of interest in nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics are discussed.