Proton-nucleus elastic scattering at 800 MeV: the role of intermediate isobars

Abstract

Proton-nucleus elastic scattering at 800 MeV is calculated in the Glauber model for 16O, 40Ca, 48Ca and 208Pb. Nuclear densities are taken from Hartree-Fock-BCS calculations. For the nucleon-nucleon amplitudes, use is made of two recent phase-shift analyses. The effects of intermediate isobars are included by means of a simple model. The results show that the experimental data are qualitatively understood. The polarisation turns out to be quite sensitive to the intermediate isobar effects, which consequently need to be calculated more carefully.