Taking ${}^{16}\mathrm{O}{+}^{16}\mathrm{O}$ elastic scattering at 124 MeV as an example, we show that a barrier-wave–internal-wave decomposition of the elastic scattering amplitude provides valuable information on the light heavy-ion interaction and complements the more conventional nearside-farside decomposition. In particular, we show that the Airy minima present in the angular distributions are due to a barrier-wave–internal-wave interference mechanism, which sheds additional light on the exceptional transparency displayed by some light heavy-ion scattering systems. Extension of these ideas to other fields, like atomic and molecular collision physics, could prove rewarding.

• Received 25 April 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.1823