Single-nucleon knockout reactions at fragmentation beam energies

Single-nucleon knockout reactions show considerable promise as a spectroscopic tool for mapping the migration of the dominant single-particle strength in rare isotopes, produced as fragmentation beams with energies > 40 MeV/nucleon. In this paper the theoretical assumptions which underpin the eikonal theory treatment of these reactions are reviewed. Certain sensitivities to input parameters are discussed, as are the possible importance of classes of higher order corrections. The eikonal model prediction for the elastic breakup component of the nucleon removal cross sections is also compared with that from fully-quantum mechanical calculations using the discretised continuum coupled channels method. An asymmetry, manifest in the experimental longitudinal momentum distributions of the ground state residues in weakly-bound-nucleon removal, is well reproduced.