ROLE OF NUCLEAR DENSITIES IN NUCLEON ELASTIC-SCATTERING

A framework based on a full-folding model of the nucleon optical potential is presented for studying nuclear densities of closed-shell nuclei using intermediate energy nucleon scattering. Using a density-matrix expansion for the mixed density, a simplified optical potential is obtained that retains the energy and momentum dependence of the effective interaction prescribed by the full-folding model. The interplay between the local density, nonlocality of the mixed-density and off-energy-shell degrees of freedom in the full-folding approach to nucleon scattering is made relatively transparent. The validity of the proposed framework is established for momentum transfers out to 2.5 fm-1 in p+16O and p+40Ca scattering at energies between 200 and 400 MeV. The sensitivity of the scattering observables to nuclear densities is investigated. © 1990 The American Physical Society.