Quantum Mechanics II Solution Sheet 7

Quantum Mechanics II
Solution Sheet 7
FS 09
Prof. C. Anastasiou
Exercise 7.1 Scattering cross section in the rst Born approximation
a) As discussed in the lecture, the dierential scattering cross section is directly related
to the scattering amplitude via
d
d
= |f(k, k
)|
2
, (1)
where k points in the direction of the incident beam and k
towards the observation

point r (the solid angle ). For elastic scattering, we further know that k = |k| =
|k
|.
In the rst Born approximation, the scattering amplitude is (up to some numerical
factor) given by the Fourier transform of the scattering potential with respect to
k
k,
f
(1)
(k, k
) =
m
2
2
V (k
k) =
m
2
2
d
3
r
V (r
)e
i(k
k)r
. (2)
For a spherically symmetric potential, f
(1)
(k, k
) only depends on the absolute value

q = |k k
| = 2k sin
/2, where
= (k, k
). The angular integration can be

performed immediately,
f
(1)
(k, k
) = f
(1)
(k, ) =
2m
2
q

0
dr
V (r
) sin qr
. (3)
For the spherical-box potential the integration is cut o at r = r
0
and one nds,
f
(1)
(k, ) =
2mV
0
2
q
r
0
0
dr
sin qr
= 2r
0
mV
0
r
2
0
2
sin qr
0
qr
0
cos qr
0
(qr
0
)
3
, (4)
and the dierential scattering cross section reads
d
d
= |f
(1)
(k, k
)|
2
= 4r
2
0
mV
0
r
2
0
2
(sin qr
0
qr
0
cos qr
0
)
2
(qr
0
)
6
. (5)
b) The limit kr
0
0 implies qr
0
0. Expanding Eq. (5) in small qr
0
leads to an
expression which is independent of q,
d
d
kr
0
0
= 4r
2
0
mV
0
r
2
0
2
[qr
0
(qr
0
)
3
/3! qr
0
+ (qr
0
)
3
/2! +O((qr
0
)
5
)]
2
(qr
0
)
6
4r
2
0
9
mV
0
r
2
0
2
. (6)
Since this expression is isotropic the total dierential cross section at low energy is
easily obtained,
=
d
d
d
=
16r
2
0
9
mV
0
r
2
0
2
. (7)
1
c) For the Born approximation to be applicable the actual wave function
k
(r) should
not be too dierent from the plane wave e
ikr
inside the range of the scattering
potential. In other words, the rst Born approximation is reasonable if the following
condition is fullled at the scattering center r = 0 (where we assume the inuence
of the potential to be strongest),
d
3
r
G(r = 0, r
)V (r
)e
ikr
m
2
2
d
3
r
e
iqr
V (r
1, (8)
where in the rst equality we have used that V (r
) = V (r
). In the limit kr
0
0
(qr
0
0) we can set e
iqr
1 and one nds that the condition (8) holds if
V
0
mr
2
0
/
2
1.
Exercise 7.2 Low energy resonances and the Breit-Wigner formula
a) The continuity of the wave function and its rst derivative implies
r
log R
>
l
r=R
=
r
log R
<
l
r=R
=
l
, (9)
where the last equation is the denition of
l
. With the ansatz for the wave function
outside the range R of the potential,
R
>
l
(k, r) =
1
2
l
(kr) + e
2i
l
(k)
h
l
(kr)
, (10)
it follows that
l
=
k[
x
h
l
(x) + e
2i
l
(k)
x
h
l
(x))
h
l
(x) + e
2i
l
(k)
h
l
(x)
x=kR
=
k[j
l
(x)(1 + e
2i
l
(k)
) + in
l
(x)(1 + e
2i
l
(k)
)]
j
l
(x)(1 + e
2i
l
(k)
) + in
l
(x)(1 + e
2i
l
(k)
)
x=kR
=
k[j
l
(x) cos
l
(k) n
l
(x) sin
l
(k)]
j
l
(x) cos
l
(k) n
l
(x) sin
l
(k)
x=kR
=
k[j
l
(x) cot
l
(k) n
l
(x)]
j
l
(x) cot
l
(k) n
l
(x)
x=kR
, (11)
where the prime stands for the derivative with respect to x = kr. Solving this for
cot
l
(k) yields the equation
cot
l
=
k
x
n
l
(x)
l
n
l
(x)
k
x
j
l
(x)
l
j
l
(x)
x=kR
. (12)
Thus the phase shift depends on the potential only through the logarithmic deriva-
tive
l
.
b) We observe that
l
=
4
k
2
(2l + 1) sin
2
l
(13)
=
4
k
2
(2l + 1)
sin
2
l
sin
2
l
+ cos
2
l
(14)
=
4
k
2
(2l + 1)
1
cot
2
l
+ 1
. (15)
2
In order to nd the maximum of
l
(k) in the limit kR 1 we need to nd the
expression of Eq. (12) at low energies. With the asymptotic identities for the Bessel
and Neumann functions,
j
l
(x)
x
l
(2l + 1)!!
, n
l
(x)
(2l 1)!!
x
l+1
, (16)
as x 0, one arrives at
cot
l
=
k
x
n
l
(x)
l
n
l
(x)
k
x
j
l
(x)
l
j
l
(x)
x=kR
(2l 1)!!(2l + 1)!! (kR)
(2l+1)
l + 1 +
l
R
l
l
R
. (17)
Inserting this into Eq. (15) leads to the expression
l

4
k
2
(2l + 1)
1
[(2l 1)!!(2l + 1)!! (kR)
(2l+1)
(l + 1 +
l
R)/(l
l
R)]
2
+ 1
(18)
4R
2
(2l + 1)
(kR)
4l
[(2l 1)!!(2l + 1)!! (l + 1 +
l
R)/(l
l
R)]
2
, (19)
which is proportional to (kR)
4l
. Thus, at low energies the partial scattering cross
section is a monotonically decreasing function of the angular quantum number l. In
particular, its maximum is assumed for l = 0, and to a good approximation one can
write
=
l0
l

l=0
= 4R
2

0
R
1 +
0
R
2
. (20)
Note, however, that there is an exception for which the step from (18) to (19) is
not true; namely, if the particle energy E
r
=
2
k
2
r
/2m is such that the following
condition is fullled,
l + 1 +
l
(E
r
)R = 0. (21)
In this case
l
k
2
for all l = 0, 1, 2, ... (recall that kR 1). These resonance
energies E
r
maximize the partial scattering cross section
l
for any channel l of the
angular momentum.
c) Close to a resonance energy E
r
one nds to leading order
l
(E)R (l + 1) +
d
l
(E)R
dE
E=E
r
(E E
r
). (22)
We insert this into (17) to nd
cot
l
(E) (2l 1)!!(2l + 1)!! (kR)
(2l+1)
d
l
(E)R
dE
E=E
r
(E E
r
)
2l + 1
=
2(E E
r
)
, (23)
where is dened as
:=
2k
2l+1
r
R
2l
[(2l 1)!!]
2
d
l
(E)
dE
E=E
r
. (24)
3
Thus, for scattering energies E E
r
the cross section of the l-th channel is well-
described by a Lorentzian,
l
=
4
k
2
(2l + 1)
1
cot
2
l
+ 1
4
k
2
(2l + 1)
1
4(EE
r
)
2
2
+ 1
=
4
k
2
(2l + 1)
(/2)
2
(E E
r
)
2
+ (/2)
2
, (25)
where the parameter represents the width of the resonance. This result is called
the Breit-Wigner formula.
4

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Quantum Mechanics II

towards the observation

) only depends on the absolute value

). The angular integration can be

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