Microscopic formulation of medium contributions to the first-order optical potential

A refinement of the first-order optical potential is introduced, consistent with multiple scattering theory and the spectator expansion. A systematic formalism is presented to treat medium contributions associated with the difference between the effective NN t matrix as required by multiple scattering theory and the free NN t matrix. A mean field potential is used to represent the action of the residual (A-1) nucleus upon the struck target nucleon (medium effects). We calculate elastic proton and neutron scattering from ⁴⁰Ca, using the full Bonn interaction and two different mean field potentials taken from realistic and proven nuclear structure models. Results indicate that the medium contributions are insignificant at energies above 300 MeV and provide a significant improvement of the theoretical predictions for laboratory energies between 48 and 200 MeV.