  In an effort to better determine the 7Be(p,gamma)8B reaction rate, we have
performed inclusive and exclusive measurements of the Coulomb dissociation of
8B. The former was a study of longitudinal momentum distributions of 7Be
fragments emitted in the Coulomb breakup of intermediate energy 8B beams on Pb
and Ag targets. Analysis of these data yielded the E2 contribution to the
breakup cross section. In the exclusive measurement, we determined the cross
section for the Coulomb breakup of 8B on Pb at low relative energies in order
to infer the astrophysical S factor for the 7Be(p,gamma)8B reaction.
Interpreting the measurements with 1st-order perturbation theory, we obtained
SE2/SE1 = 4.7 (+ 2.0,- 1.3) times 10^-4 at Erel = 0.6 MeV, and S17(0) = 17.8 (+
1.4,- 1.2) eV b. Semiclassical 1st-order perturbation theory and fully quantum
mechanical continuum-discretized coupled channels analyses yield nearly
identical results for the E1 strength relevant to solar neutrino flux
calculations, suggesting that theoretical reaction mechanism uncertainties need
not limit the precision of Coulomb breakup determinations of the 7Be(p,gamma)8B
S factor. A recommended value of S17(0) based on a weighted average of this and
other measurements is presented.
