The question of how the scattering cross section changes when the spectra of the colliding nuclei have low-excitation particle-emitting resonances is explored using a multi-channel algebraic scattering (MCAS) method. As a test case, the light-mass nuclear target 8Be, being particle-unstable, has been considered. Nucleon-nucleus scattering cross sections, as well as the spectra of the compound nuclei formed, have been determined from calculations that do, and do not, consider particle emission widths of the target nuclear states. The resonant character of the unstable excited states introduces a problem because the low-energy tails of these resonances can intrude into the sub-threshold, bound-state region. This unphysical behaviour needs to be corrected by modifying, in an energy-dependent way, the shape of the target resonances from the usual Lorentzian one. The resonance function must smoothly reach zero at the elastic threshold. Ways of achieving this condition are explored in this paper.
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