The aim of this thesis is to present a reasonable account of some of the applications that functional analysis, or more specifically operator theory, has in the theory of quantum scattering. We begin by introducing the physical scattering experiment as well as establishing the standard framework for discussing quantum theory, that of a Hilbert space. This leads to a discussion of the properties of operators acting in a Hilbert space and the role played by unbounded selfadjoint operators in quantum physics. We also spend some time discussing the position, momentum and energy operators which are of most relevance here. This in turn leads logically to the problem of formulating the scattering problem mathematically using these operators. The stationary equations of scattering theory are also rigorously derived and their suitability for two-body scattering problems is proven. We show that this analysis does not extend to three-body scattering problems, and introduce the Faddeev formulation for three-body systems to supplement the theory. This thesis concludes with a brief overview of how our scattering equations can be modified to take into account effects such as particle spin and identical particles, before discussing an example of a three-body scattering problem (incorporating these features) and deriving a mathematically satisfactory set of equations which are amenable to numerical solution.
The semiclassical theory of spontaneous Raman scattering is reviewed. From the semiclassical theory we identify the parameters and dynamical variables involved in Raman scattering. A classical theory of stimulated Raman scattering is constructed. It is an extension of the theory of Shen and Bloembergen. We show that the system is a weakly coupled system. Because the driving term contains dynamical variables, the linewidth of the stimulated Stokes wave should be smaller than that of the spontaneous Stokes wave. Using Riemann's method, we obtain Kroll's solution rigorously, in a more general form. The steady-state limit is also derived rigorously. The conditions for the transient and steady-state gains are discussed. It is shown that for the transient case one may have an abrupt change of the Stokes gain versus incident laser power.