Scattering Theory of Molecules, Atoms and Nuclei

The aim of the book is to give a coherent and comprehensive account of quantum scattering theory with applications to atomic, molecular and nuclear systems. The motivation for this is to supply the necessary theoretical tools to calculate scattering observables of these many-body systems. Concepts which are seemingly different for atomic/molecular scattering from those of nuclear systems, are shown to be the same once physical units such as energy and length are diligently clarified. Many-body resonances excited in nuclear systems are the same as those in atomic systems and come under the name of Feshbach resonances. We also lean heavily on semi-classical methods to explain the physics of quantum scattering — especially the interference seen in the angle dependence of the cross section. Having in mind a wide readership, the book includes sections on scattering in two dimensions which is of use in surface physics. Several problems are also included at the end of each of the chapters.

Contents:

• Potential Scattering:

  • Basic Notions
  • The Partial Wave Expansion Method
  • Coulomb Scattering
  • Green's Functions, T- and S-Matrices
  • Approximate Methods in Potential Scattering
  • Spin and Identical Particles
  • Scattering from Complex Potentials
  • Additional Topics

• Many-body Scattering:

  • The Coupled Channel Formalism
  • Few-channel Description of Many-body Scattering
  • Approximate Methods in Many-body Scattering
  • Selected Topics in Many-body Scattering

Readership: For atomic, molecular and nuclear physicists.
Key Features:

• More detailed account of the practical aspects of semi-classical method, and scattering from the long-range coulomb potential
• Unified description of many-body resonances (Feshbach resonances) in atomic and nuclear scattering
• Detailed treatment of scattering in one and two dimensions. The latter is certainly important in surface physics research