Elastic scattering of pions from finite nuclei is investigated utilizing a
contemporary, momentum--space first--order optical potential combined with
microscopic estimates of second--order corrections. The calculation of the
first--order potential includes:\ \ (1)~full Fermi--averaging integration
including both the delta propagation and the intrinsic nonlocalities in the
Ï-N amplitude, (2)~fully covariant kinematics, (3)~use of invariant
amplitudes which do not contain kinematic singularities, and (4)~a
finite--range off--shell pion--nucleon model which contains the nucleon pole
term. The effect of the delta--nucleus interaction is included via the mean
spectral--energy approximation. It is demonstrated that this produces a
convergent perturbation theory in which the Pauli corrections (here treated as
a second--order term) cancel remarkably against the pion true absorption terms.
Parameter--free results, including the delta--nucleus shell--model potential,
Pauli corrections, pion true absorption, and short--range correlations are
presented. (2 figures available from authors)Comment: 13 page
