Statistical multi-step direct reaction models and the eikonal approximation

Nucleon-induced pre-equilibrium reactions are now recognized as consisting almost exclusively of direct reactions in which incident nucleons induce excita- tions over a wide range of energy in the target nuclei. At low energies, one step reactions dominate with more steps becoming important as the incident energy increases. The characterization of this multistep scattering process in terms of eikonal waves and an optical interaction potential could furnish an important simplification of the description of the collision process. In this preliminary work we perform an analysis of elastic angular distributions for different target nuclei and incident projectile energies, using the eikonal approximation and a tρ interaction potential.