  In this paper we study the energy spectra and related parallel momentum
distributions of the neutrons from the breakup of 11Be. Earlier papers on
transfer to the continuum reactions have shown that the breakup amplitude
reduces to a simple eikonal approximation in the limit of weakly bound
projectiles. The aim is to establish a reliable method to obtain information on
the structure of the halo from the experimental results which depend on the
reaction mechanism.
  Theoretical results for the widths of the parallel momentum distributions and
for the total breakup cross section are compared to recent experimental data.
