Microscopic optical potential from the relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory: Proton-nucleus scattering

Microscopic optical potentials based on realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions are important for describing the scattering phenomenology involving nuclei far away from the valley of nuclear stability. The authors construct a new optical potential by combining the relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory with a microscopic description of the density profile of the target nucleus. The new model provides good reproduction of proton scattering data on five target nuclei, opening up interesting perspectives for applications to exotic nuclei, including setting up a reliable framework to investigate isospin effects in nuclear structure from a scattering perspective.