Paper 2, Section II, E

Applications of Quantum Mechanics | Part II, 2011

A beam of particles of mass mm and momentum p=ℏkp=\hbar k, incident along the zz-axis, is scattered by a spherically symmetric potential V(r)V(r), where V(r)=0V(r)=0 for large rr. State the boundary conditions on the wavefunction as r→∞r \rightarrow \infty and hence define the scattering amplitude f(θ)f(\theta), where θ\theta is the scattering angle.

Given that, for large rr,

eikrcos⁡θ=12ikr∑l=0∞(2l+1)(eikr−(−1)le−ikr)Pl(cos⁡θ)e^{i k r \cos \theta}=\frac{1}{2 i k r} \sum_{l=0}^{\infty}(2 l+1)\left(e^{i k r}-(-1)^{l} e^{-i k r}\right) P_{l}(\cos \theta)

explain how the partial-wave expansion can be used to define the phase shifts δl(k)(l=\delta_{l}(k)(l= 0,1,2,…)0,1,2, \ldots). Furthermore, given that dσ/dΩ=∣f(θ)∣2d \sigma / d \Omega=|f(\theta)|^{2}, derive expressions for f(θ)f(\theta) and the total cross-section σ\sigma in terms of the δl\delta_{l}.

In a particular case V(r)V(r) is given by

V(r)={∞,r<a−V0,a<r<2a0,r>2aV(r)=\left\{\begin{array}{cl} \infty, & r<a \\ -V_{0}, & a<r<2 a \\ 0, & r>2 a \end{array}\right.

where V0>0V_{0}>0. Show that the S\mathrm{S}-wave phase shift δ0\delta_{0} satisfies

tan⁡(δ0)=kcos⁡(2ka)−κcot⁡(κa)sin⁡(2ka)ksin⁡(2ka)+κcot⁡(κa)cos⁡(2ka),\tan \left(\delta_{0}\right)=\frac{k \cos (2 k a)-\kappa \cot (\kappa a) \sin (2 k a)}{k \sin (2 k a)+\kappa \cot (\kappa a) \cos (2 k a)},

where κ2=2mV0/ℏ2+k2\kappa^{2}=2 m V_{0} / \hbar^{2}+k^{2}.

Derive an expression for the scattering length asa_{s} in terms of κ\kappa. Find the values of κ\kappa for which ∣as∣\left|a_{s}\right| diverges and briefly explain their physical significance.

Typos? Please submit corrections to this page on GitHub.