Treatment of Pionic Modes at the Nuclear Surface for Transport Descriptions

Dispersion relations and amplitudes of collective pionic modes are derived in a pi + nucleon-hole + delta-hole model for use in transport descriptions by means of a local density approximation. It is discussed how pionic modes can be converted to real particles when penetrating the nuclear surface and how earlier treatments can be improved. When the surface is stationary only free pions emerge. The time-dependent situation is also addressed, as is the conversion of non-physical (i.e. unperturbed delta-hole) modes to real particles when the nuclear density vanishes. A simplified one-dimensional scenario is used to investigate the reflection and transmission of pionic modes at the nuclear surface. It is found that reflection of pionic modes is rather unlikely, but the process can be incorporated into transport descriptions by the use of approximate local transmission coefficients.