A simple formalism for exploring quantum scattering and possible bound states in an arbitrary symmetric and localized potential in a unified way is presented. The symmetric square barrier and well potentials are used for illustrating the method.
Abstract We discuss a general description of the solutions to the 1D time-independent Schrödinger equation that does not a priori distinguish between scattering states and bound states and emphasizes and reinforces their relationship and connection to each other. This manuscript also introduces the concept of transfer matrices, which it presents as a logical extension of the traditional approach to evaluating 1D potentials. Using the transfer matrix method and a finite step approximation allows for a simple and straight-forward numerical solution of arbitrary 1D potentials. It also separates the process of solving the Schrödinger equation from selecting physically relevant solutions, which is a critical skill in quantum mechanics and is at the core of physics problems in general.
A method for determining the quantum wave impedance function for a quantum-mechanical system with an arbitrary piecewise constant potential has been developed.Using this method, both the well-known iterative formula [A.N. Khondker, M. R. Khan, A. F. M. Anwar, J. Appl.Phys.63, 5191 (1988)] and an alternative approach for calculating quantum wave impedance were derived.This approach was applied to both scattering and bound state cases.The general form of the wave functions for bound states, as well as the transmission and reection coecients in the scattering case, were obtained for systems with a potential consisting of an arbitrary number of rectangular barriers and wells.The application of the developed method was demonstrated by describing symmetric rectangular double-well and double-barrier quantum-mechanical systems.
We consider the relativistic quantum scattering of spinless particles in one-spatial dimension using the Feshbach-Villars formalism. We construct the general form of the scattering matrix, for symmetric and non-symmetric potentials, based on the symmetry properties of the Feshbach-Villars equation. Then, since in one dimension there are only two partial waves associated with even and odd parities, we show, in a simple and comprehensive way, how to describe this transmission-reflection problem using partial-wave decomposition. As an illustration, we also discuss the special case of scattering by a symmetric square-well potential.