Coulomb and nuclear excitation of giant dipole resonances in ( alpha, alpha ') inelastic scattering

Cross sections of inelastic ..cap alpha..-particle scattering to isovector giant dipole resonances are calculated including both nuclear and Coulomb excitation. It is shown that the calculated cross sections are rather small and can be safely neglected for bombarding energies less than 200 MeV in determining the strength of the giant monopole resonance. This conclusion contradicts that of a recent report made by Peterson.