Background: At intermediate energies, transfer reactions are suppressed because the momentum-matching condition is difficult to satisfy. In the standard distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA), a high momentum component of the transferred particle is required to match the large momentum transfer.

Purpose: We investigate the applicability of the distorted wave impulse approximation (DWIA) for describing ($p,d$) transfer reactions at intermediate energies by performing a comparative study with the standard DWBA. DWIA, which has been successful for knockout reactions, is expected to provide an alternative reaction mechanism at this energy region.

Methods: Both DWBA and DWIA formalisms are applied to the ${}^{16}\mathrm{O}$($p,d$)${}^{15}\mathrm{O}$ reaction at 200 MeV. In DWBA the reaction is described as a neutron pickup, while in DWIA it is treated as a quasielastic scattering from a preformed deuteron cluster in the target.

Results: The DWBA calculation is in good agreement with the experimental data, reproducing both the angular distribution and the absolute magnitude of the cross section with a reasonable spectroscopic factor. In contrast, the DWIA calculation, while qualitatively reproducing the trend of the angular distribution, severely underestimates the cross section by about two orders of magnitude.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that conventional DWBA provides a more suitable description for the ${}^{16}\mathrm{O}$($p,d$)${}^{15}\mathrm{O}$ reaction at 200 MeV. The failure of DWIA in this case, unlike its success in knockout reactions, raises open questions about its applicability to transfer reactions. This motivates the need for systematic investigations to delineate the applicability of both reaction mechanisms under various conditions.

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• H & He induced nuclear reactions
• Knockout reactions
• Models & methods for nuclear reactions
• Nuclear reactions
• Transfer reactions
• Optical, coupled-channel & distorted wave models