Scattering from correlated systems

A difficulty usually encountered in formulating the problem of scattering of identical particles from correlated systems is that the customary choice of an unperturbed Hamiltonian as the target Hamiltonian plus the kinetic energy of the projectile is not symmetric under particle exchange. This choice of unperturbed Hamiltonian leads to wavefunctions which, if they are antisymmetrized, are not orthonormal. In this paper an orthonormal, antisymmetrized set of basis states is constructed. These states are then used to construct a symmetric unperturbed Hamiltonian, so that a formal scattering equation with appropriate boundary conditions can be written. An expression for a T matrix describing nucleon-nucleus scattering can then be obtained. The formalism leads to a two-potential form for the T matrix, the first term of which describes the effect of the orthogonality of the scattering state and the negative energy states.