Mean field approximation versus exact treatment of collisions in few-body systems

A variational principle for calculating matrix elements of the full resolvent operator for a many-body system is studied. Its mean field approximation results in nonlinear equations of Hartree (-Fock) type, with initial and final channel wave functions as driving terms. The mean field equations will in general have many solutions whereas the exact problem being linear, has a unique solution. In a schematic model with separable forces the mean field equations are analytically soluble, and for the exact problem the resulting integral equations are solved numerically. Comparing exact and mean field results over a wide range of system parameters, the mean field approach proves to be a very reliable approximation, which is not plagued by the notorious problem of defining asymptotic channels in the time-dependent mean field method.