Chapter 21. The Classical-to-Semiclassical Connection

Eric Heller

John Adam

This chapter discusses the connection between the classical and semiclassical domains of scattering. Scattering phenomena may be described via three regimes: the scattering of waves by objects with small, large, or comparable sizes with the wavelength of the incident (plane wave) radiation. All three regions can be related to three domains: the classical domain (geometrical optics, particle and particle/ray-like trajectories); the wave domain (physical optics, acoustic and electromagnetic waves, quantum mechanics); and the semiclassical domain (the vast intermediate region between the first and second domain). The chapter first provides an overview of classical and semiclassical scattering domains before beginning with an analysis of the semiclassical formulation. It also considers the radial equation, scattering by a one-dimensional potential barrier, and the radially symmetric problem. Solutions for phase shifts and the potential well are presented.

M. Brack, Rajat K. Bhaduri

This chapter discusses in some detail the connection between the classical and quantum mechanical equations of motion, largely using examples that are solvable. It recounts how the old quantum theory was formulated by quantizing the action. Choosing irreducible cycles around the tori leads naturally to defining the action and angle variables of motion, and the quantization of action around each cycle. The chapter shows that families of these periodic orbits contribute to the oscillating part of the density of states of an integrable system in the form of a trace formula. It discusses the transition from integrability to chaos in such systems when perturbations are added that couple resonantly to these natural frequencies. The chapter elaborates with a view to develop the semiclassical approximation, and the associated quantization condition. It brings out the similarity between the Schrodinger equation of wave mechanics, and the HJ equation.

Christopher J. Foot

Abstract To describe the interaction of a two-level atom with radiation we shall use a semiclassical treatment, i.e. the radiation is treated as a classical electric field but we use quantum mechanics to treat the atom. From the theory of the interaction with radiation, we will be able to find the conditions for which the equations reduce to a set of rate equations that describe the populations of the atomic energy levels (with a steady-state solution). In particular, for an atom illuminated by broad band radiation, this approach allows us to make a connection with Einstein’s treatment of radiation that was presented in Chapter 1; we shall find the Einstein B coefficient in terms of the matrix element for the transition.