Background: The ratio method has been developed to improve the study of one-neutron halo nuclei through reactions. By taking the ratio of angular distributions for two processes, viz. breakup and elastic scattering, this new observable is nearly independent of the reaction mechanism and hence much more sensitive to the projectile structure than the cross sections for each single process.Purpose: We study the extension of the ratio method to proton-rich nuclei. We also explore the optimum experimental conditions for measuring this new observable.
Method:We compare accurate dynamical calculations of reactions for proton-rich projectiles to the prediction of the ratio method. We use the dynamical eikonal approximation that provides good results for this kind of reactions at intermediate energy.Results: Our tests for 8 B, an archetypical one-proton halo nucleus, on Pb, Ni, and C targets at 44 MeV/nucleon show that the method can be extended to proton-rich nuclei. The sensitivity of the ratio observable to the singleparticle structure of the projectile is studied in detail. The method is not affected if energy ranges-or bins-are considered in the projectile continuum. This makes the ratio easier to measure experimentally by increasing the breakup cross section. Light elements provide the optimal targets to exploit this observable in practice. We also extend our analysis to 17 F, 25 Al, and 27 P, whose study is of interest to both nuclear astrophysics and nuclear structure.Conclusions: We show that, albeit less precise than for one-neutron halo nuclei, the ratio method can be extended to proton-rich nuclei and that it provides valuable information about their structure. It is especially accurate for nuclei with a valence proton loosely bound in an s or p orbital, i.e. for one-proton halo nuclei.