Quantum Scattering Dynamics

4 Lectures. Coulson Summer School, 2001.

Lecture Synopsis

1. Elastic Scattering. Experimental observables. The flux density. The scattering amplitude. Partial wave phase shifts. Partial wave expansion of exp(+ikz). Integral and differential cross sections. The scattering matrix.
2. Scattering "Theory". S-wave potential scattering. Free particle eigenstates. Integral equation formulation. Time-independent scattering theory. Time-dependent scattering theory.
3. Inelastic Scattering. Close-coupled equations. The log derivative method. Unitarity and symmetry of the S matrix. The helicity representation... ...and (one of) its applications.
4. State-to-State Reactive Scattering. Introduction. Collinear reactive scattering. Natural collision coordinates. Hyperspherical coordinates. Time-independent variational methods. The time-dependent wavepacket method. Closing remarks.

Lecture Notes

1. Lecture notes for lectures 1-3 [ PDF (317k) GZipped PS ].
2. Lecture notes for lecture 4 [ PDF (274k) GZipped PS ].