High-energy heavy-ion scattering and the optical phase shift function

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Abstract
We derive, within the framework of the Glauber approximation, an exact expression for the optical phase shift function χ¯(b) which takes into account the center-of-mass correlation function. We calculate total and differential cross sections using the first-order term for χ¯(b) and compare them with the usual (first-order) optical limit results and, for the lighter nuclei, with the exact Glauber results. The nucleus-nucleus elastic scattering amplitude does not exhibit the large-q divergence which characterizes the usual optical limit. Our results improve the calculated total and differential cross sections dramatically for light nuclei, and significantly for medium and heavy nuclei.