A Phenomenological Extension for Microscopic Optical Potentials

Abstract

Microscopic optical potentials constructed from realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions via multiple-scattering theory provide a first-principles description of nucleon-nucleus scattering. Nevertheless, such approaches often neglect medium corrections beyond Pauli blocking and fail to fully capture higher-order scattering contributions, leading to systematic under-prediction of absorption and deficiencies in angular distributions at low and intermediate energies. In this work we introduce a phenomenological correction scheme with an energy-dependent term designed to mimic correlation effects, dispersive contributions, and multi-step scattering processes. The correction is implemented in a minimal form to preserve the predictive character of the underlying microscopic model, while enabling improved flexibility in describing experimental observables. Applications to proton and neutron elastic scattering on light-mass nuclei demonstrate that the modified potentials yield enhanced agreement with measured differential cross sections, without sacrificing the microscopic foundation. This approach provides a practical pathway for incorporating missing medium and higher-order effects into optical model analyses relevant for nuclear structure and reaction studies.