Scattering amplitude

In quantum physics, the scattering amplitude is the probability amplitude of the outgoing spherical wave relative to the incoming plane wave in a stationary-state scattering process.[1] The latter is described by the wavefunction

where is the position vector; ; is the incoming plane wave with the wavenumber along the axis; is the outgoing spherical wave; is the scattering angle; and is the scattering amplitude. The dimension of the scattering amplitude is length.

The scattering amplitude is a probability amplitude and the differential cross-section as a function of scattering angle is given as its modulus squared

Partial wave expansion

In the partial wave expansion the scattering amplitude is represented as a sum over the partial waves,[2]

,

where f is the partial scattering amplitude and P are the Legendre polynomials.

The partial amplitude can be expressed via the partial wave S-matrix element S () and the scattering phase shift δ as

Then the differential cross section is given by[3]

,

and the total elastic cross section becomes

,

where Im f(0) is the imaginary part of f(0).

X-rays

The scattering length for X-rays is the Thomson scattering length or classical electron radius, .

Neutrons

The nuclear neutron scattering process involves the coherent neutron scattering length, often described by .

Quantum mechanical formalism

A quantum mechanical approach is given by the S matrix formalism.

Measurement

The scattering amplitude can be determined by the scattering length in the low-energy regime.

See also

References

  1. Quantum Mechanics: Concepts and Applications By Nouredine Zettili, 2nd edition, page 623. ISBN 978-0-470-02679-3 Paperback 688 pages January 2009
  2. Michael Fowler/ 1/17/08 Plane Waves and Partial Waves
  3. Schiff, Leonard I. (1968). Quantum Mechanics. New York: McGraw Hill. pp. 119–120.
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