Coherent Compton scattering on light nuclei in the delta resonance region

Coherent Compton scattering on light nuclei in the delta resonance region is studied in the impulse approximation and is shown to be a sensitive probe of the in-medium properties of the delta resonance. The elementary amplitude on a single nucleon is calculated from the unitary K-matrix approach developed previously. Modifications of the properties of the delta resonance due to the nuclear medium are accounted for through the self-energy operator of the delta, calculated from the one-pion loop. The dominant medium effects such as the Pauli blocking, mean-field modification of the nucleon and delta masses, and particle-hole excitations in the pion propagator are consistently included in nuclear matter.