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arXiv:quant-ph/9602015 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and General

Analytical properties of scattering amplitudes in one-dimensional quantum theory

M S Marinov, Bilha Segev

Published Jun 7, 1996• 24 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

One-dimensional quantum scattering from a local potential barrier is considered. Analytical properties of the scattering amplitudes have been investigated by means of the integral equations equivalent to the Schrödinger equations. The transition and reflection amplitudes are expressed in terms of two complex functions of the incident energy, which are similar to the Jost function in partial-wave scattering. These functions are entire for finite-range potentials and meromorphic for exponentially decreasing potentials. The analytical properties result from the locality of the potential in the wave equation and represent the effect of causality in the time dependence of the scattering process.

DOI
10.1088/0305-4470/29/11/018

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Analytical properties of scattering amplitudes in one-dimensional quantum theory

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The Journal of Chemical Physics•Apr 16, 2008•23 citations
One-dimensional quantum scattering from a local potential barrier is considered. Analytical properties of the scattering amplitudes have been investigated by means of the integral equations equivalent to the Schrödinger equations. The transition and reflection amplitudes are expressed in terms of two complex functions of the incident energy, which are similar to the Jost function in partial-wave scattering. These functions are entire for finite-range potentials and meromorphic for exponentially decreasing potentials. The analytical properties result from the locality of the potential in the wave equation and represent the effect of causality in the time dependence of the scattering process.
One-dimensional quantum scattering from a local potential barrier is considered. Analytical properties of the scattering amplitudes have been investigated by means of the integral equations equivalent to the Schrodinger equations. The transition and reflection amplitudes are expressed in terms of two complex functions of the incident energy, which are similar to the Jost function in the partial-wave scattering. These functions are entire for finite-range potentials and meromorphic for exponentially decreasing potentials. The analytical properties result from locality of the potential in the wave equation and represent the effect of causality in time dependence of the scattering process.
The concept of a generalized scattering amplitude is introduced and applied to quantum potential scatterings. After an outgoing spherical wave is factored out from a wave function, the remaining wave envelope is defined as the generalized scattering amplitude. The transformed Schr\"odinger equation, in terms of the generalized scattering amplitude, can be solved numerically by using a finite-difference method over the entire scattering domain. Example problems of scatterings by a spherical potential well and the (${\mathit{e}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$,H) static field interaction potential are solved to validate the theoretical formulation and numerical method. The far-field solutions for the ordinary scattering amplitude and differential cross section agree very well with those obtained from the partial-wave analysis. The radial profiles of the generalized scattering amplitude and particle density function over the entire scattering region are also presented, and their properties are discussed. These results demonstrate that the method can be used to yield a complete and accurate solution to scattering problems involving arbitrary interaction potentials.
The analytic properties of the Jost functions are fundamental in quantum scattering theory and in the analytic continuation of the scattering matrix into the complex energy plane. In this work, the analyticity of the Jost functions is investigated from the perspective of parameter-dependent ordinary differential equations. Starting from the radial Schrödinger equation for a short-range central potential, a first-order differential system is derived for the coefficient functions associated with the Ricatti--Bessel and Ricatti--Neumann solutions. The multivalued dependence on the energy variable is shown to originate from the square-root relation between energy and momentum. By explicitly factorizing the momentum-dependent branching terms, the scattering problem is transformed into a differential system whose coefficients are single-valued analytic functions of the complex energy. Using the classical theory of analytic dependence of solutions of ordinary differential equations on parameters, it is shown that the transformed Jost functions are single-valued analytic functions of the energy variable for finite radial distance. The geometric interpretation of the factorization procedure is also discussed in terms of the topology of the associated Riemann surface.
We give a pedagogical introduction to time-independent scattering theory in one dimension focusing on the basic properties and recent applications of transfer matrices. In particular, we begin surveying some basic notions of potential scattering such as transfer matrix and its analyticity, multidelta-function and locally periodic potentials, Jost solutions, spectral singularities and their time-reversal, and unidirectional reflectionlessness and invisibility. We then offer a simple derivation of the Lippmann-Schwinger equation and the Born series, and discuss the Born approximation. Next, we outline a recently developed dynamical formulation of time-independent scattering theory in one dimension. This formulation relates the transfer matrix and therefore the solution of the scattering problem for a given potential to the solution of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation for an effective nonunitary two-level quantum system. We provide a self-contained treatment of this formulation and some of its most important applications. Specifically, we use it to devise a powerful alternative to the Born series and Born approximation, derive dynamical equations for the reflection and transmission amplitudes, discuss their application in constructing exact tunable unidirectionally invisible potentials, and use them to provide an exact solution for single-mode inverse scattering problems. The latter, which has important applications in designing optical devices with a variety of functionalities, amounts to providing an explicit construction for a finite-range complex potential whose reflection and transmission amplitudes take arbitrary prescribed values at any given wavenumber.
Consider the one-dimensional scattering of an electron from two potentials with non-overlapping supports. We show that the scattering amplitudes can be obtained from those of the single potentials, and these relations can be explained in terms of multiple reflections of partial waves in the region between the two potentials. From http://www.iram.rwth-aachen.de/~jung/, the latest version of this paper is available as jg-97-1.*, and from http://www.ma.utexas.edu/mp arc/, the first version is obtained as 97-659.latex. 1 Introduction The scattering of light by a parallel sheet of glass can be described in terms of the scattering by the front and back surfaces. We show that a similar description is possible for Schrodinger scattering with potentials V 1;2 of compact support, where supp V 1 ae [a; b] is located left of supp V 2 ae [c; d]. Thus the scattering by V = V 1 + V 2 can be understood as a result of multiple reflections between the potentials V 1 and V 2 . The scattering amplitudes...
One-dimensional time-independent scattering problems are investigated in the framework of the quantum Hamilton-Jacobi formalism. The equation for the local approximate quantum trajectories near the stagnation point of the quantum momentum function is derived, and the first derivative of the quantum momentum function is related to the local structure of quantum trajectories. Exact complex quantum trajectories are determined for two examples by numerically integrating the equations of motion. For the soft potential step, some particles penetrate into the nonclassical region, and then turn back to the reflection region. For the barrier scattering problem, quantum trajectories may spiral into the attractors or from the repellers in the barrier region. Although the classical potentials extended to complex space show different pole structures for each problem, the quantum potentials present the same second-order pole structure in the reflection region. This paper not only analyzes complex quantum trajectories and the total potentials for these examples but also demonstrates general properties and similar structures of the complex quantum trajectories and the quantum potentials for one-dimensional time-independent scattering problems.