Vibrations versus collisions and the iterative structure of two-body dynamics

The two-body correlation function is decomposed into two channel correlation functions for the pp- and the ph-channel. The associated coupled equations describe the evolution in the respective channels as well as their mixing. Integration of the ph-channel in terms of vibrational RPA-states yields a closed equation for the correlations in the pp-channel comprising phonon-particle coupling and a memory term. In the stationary limit the equation for a generalised effective interaction is derived which iterates both the G-matrix (ladders) and the polarisation matrix (loops), thus accounting nonperturbatively for the mixing of ladders and loops. (orig.)