Effective channel approach to nuclear scattering at high energies. I

The elastic scattering of high-energy particles by composite target nuclei is formulated in terms of coupled equations in which the effect of inelastic processes is represented by an average inelastic channel. The average fluctuation energy and fluctuation potentials which specify this channel are explicitly constructed and shown to be related to the two- and three-particle correlation functions. The theory incorporates approximately the effects of nonlocality, energy-dependence, rescattering, and absorption of all the inelastic channels. Systematic improvements of the method as well as several extensions of the formalism to target excitations and particle exchanges are discussed.NUCLEAR REACTIONS Scattering theory of protons and pions by nuclei at high energies. Construction of the effective inelastic channels.