Elastic proton scattering off nonzero spin nuclei

Background: In recent years, we constructed a microscopic optical potential (OP) for elastic nucleon-nucleus (NA) scattering using modern approaches based on chiral theories for the nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction. The OP was derived at first order of the spectator expansion in Watson multiple scattering theory and its final expression was a folding integral between the NN t matrix and the nuclear density of the target. Two- and three-body forces are consistently included both in the target and in the projectile description. Purpose: The purpose of this work is to apply our microscopic OP to nuclei characterized by a ground state of spin-parity quantum numbers J(pi) not equal 0(+). Methods: We extended our formalism to include the spin of the target nucleus. The full amplitudes of the NN reaction matrix are retained in the calculations starting from two- and three-body chiral forces. Results: The microscopic OP can be applied in the energy range 100 <= E <= 350 MeV. We show a remarkable agreement with experimental data for the available observables and, simultaneously, provide reliable estimates for the theoretical uncertainties. Conclusions: This work paves the way toward a full microscopic approach to inelastic NA scattering, showing that the derivation of optical potentials between states with J(pi) not equal 0(+) is completely under control.