Intermediate energy Coulomb excitation as a probe of nuclear structure at radioactive beam facilities

The effects of retardation in the Coulomb excitation of radioactive nuclei in intermediate energy collisions $({E}_{\mathrm{lab}}\ensuremath{\sim}100\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{MeV}∕\text{nucleon})$ are investigated. We show that the excitation cross sections of low-lying states in $^{11}\mathrm{Be}$, $^{38,40,42}\mathrm{S}$, and $^{44,46}\mathrm{Ar}$ projectiles incident on gold and lead targets are modified by as much as $20%$ due to these effects. The angular distributions of decaying $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ rays are also appreciably modified.