Ad
related to: quantum scattering theory
Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The example of scattering in quantum chemistry is particularly instructive, as the theory is reasonably complex while still having a good foundation on which to build an intuitive understanding. When two atoms are scattered off one another, one can understand them as being the bound state solutions of some differential equation.
In physics, the S-matrix or scattering matrix is a matrix that relates the initial state and the final state of a physical system undergoing a scattering process.It is used in quantum mechanics, scattering theory and quantum field theory (QFT).
It relates the scattered wave function with the interaction that produces the scattering (the scattering potential) and therefore allows calculation of the relevant experimental parameters (scattering amplitude and cross sections). The most fundamental equation to describe any quantum phenomenon, including scattering, is the Schrödinger equation.
The equation was later extended to quantum scattering theory by several individuals, and came to be known as the Bohr–Peierls–Placzek relation after a 1939 paper. It was first referred to as the "optical theorem" in print in 1955 by Hans Bethe and Frederic de Hoffmann , after it had been known as a "well known theorem of optics" for some time.
Generally in scattering theory and in particular in quantum mechanics, the Born approximation consists of taking the incident field in place of the total field as the driving field at each point in the scatterer. The Born approximation is named after Max Born who proposed this approximation in the early days of quantum theory development. [1]
The quantum inverse scattering method relates two different approaches: the Bethe ansatz, a method of solving integrable quantum models in one space and one time dimension. [citation needed] the inverse scattering transform, a method of solving classical integrable differential equations of the evolutionary type. [citation needed]
The following description follows the canonical way of introducing elementary scattering theory. A steady beam of particles scatters off a spherically symmetric potential V ( r ) {\displaystyle V(r)} , which is short-ranged, so that for large distances r → ∞ {\displaystyle r\to \infty } , the particles behave like free particles.
Scattering theory is the theory of scattering events which can occur as well in quantum mechanics, classical electrodynamics or acoustics. The associated general mathematical frame bears the same name though its range of application may be larger.