Microscopic Theories of Atomic and Nuclear Optical Potentials

Abstract

The elastic scattering cross sections of electrons by atoms and of nucleons by nuclei are very accurately reproduced by assuming that the incident particle only feels a one-body potential, called the optical potential. The agreement between the calculated and experimental cross sections is so good that some authors adopt the viewpoint that the optical potential could be determined with unlimited accuracy if the exact elastic cross sections were known. However, starting from some given optical potential, one can always construct other potentials which would leave the phase shift unchanged but would modify the scattering wave function at finite distance. Thus, the problem of defining the “optical wave function” of the scattered particle should be treated on a par with that of defining the microscopic optical potential.