The scattering of fast nucleons from nuclei (Reprinted from Annals of Physics, vol 8, pg 551, 1959)

The formal theory of the scattering of high-energy nucleons by nuclei is de veloped in terms of the, nucleon-nucleon scattering amplitude. The most imp ortant approximations necessary to make numerical calculation feasible are then examined. The optical model potential is derived on this basis and com pared with the optical model parameters found fi om experiment. The elastic scattering and polarization of nucleons From light nuclei is predicted and compared with experiment. The effect of nuclear correlations is discussed. The polarization of inelastically scattered nucleons is discussed and pred ictions compared with experiments. To within the validity of the approximat ions the experimental data on the scattering of nucleons from nuclei at ene rgies above similar to 100 Mev appears to he consistent with the theory. (C ) 1959 Academic Press.