Multi-step processes in high-energy elastic and inelastic nuclear scattering

Multi-step processes in elastic and inelastic nuclear scattering at intermediate and high energies are investigated using a formulation whereby a finite number of channels are explicitly treated while all the other channels are approximately accounted for through a “second-order potential matrix”. Within the framework of the eikonal approximation the problem reduces to a finite system of first-order coupled integro-differential equations with non-local potentials which depend on the two-body density matrix of the target nucleus. The relationship of the above formulation to the DWIA, the close-coupling method, and the Glauber multiple scattering model is examined. This approach is applied to the elastic and inelastic (2⁺, 4.43 MeV) scattering of 1 GeV nucleons by ¹²C. The corrections to the DWIA are sizeable, and the inelastic scattering appears to be very sensitive to the multi-step contributions and the nuclear structure.