Boundary condition scattering systems

Until very recently, however, the same could not be said for reactive systems, which we define to be systems in which the nuclear wave function satisfies scattering boundary conditions. It was understood that, as in a bound system, the nuclear wave function of a reactive system must encircle the Cl if nontrivial GP effects are to appear in any observables [6]. Mead showed how to predict such effects in the special case that the encirclement is produced by the requirements of particle-exchange symmetry [14]. However, little was known about the effect of the GP when the encirclement is produced by reaction paths that loop around the CL... 

This chapter has focused on reactive systems, in which the nuclear wave function satisfies scattering boundary conditions, applied at the asymptotic limits of reagent and product channels. It turns out that these boundary conditions are what make it possible to unwind the nuclear wave function from around the Cl, and that it is impossible to unwind a bound-state wave function. 

In order to describe the fluorescence radiation profile of scattering samples in total, Eqs. (8.3) and (8.4) have to be coupled. This system of differential equations is not soluble exactly, and even if simple boundary conditions are introduced the solution is possible only by numerical approximation. The most flexible procedure to overcome all analytical difficulties is to use a Monte Carlo simulation. However, this method is little elegant, gives noisy results, and allows resimulation only according to the method of trial and error which can be very time consuming, even in the age of fast computers. Therefore different steps of simplifications have been introduced that allow closed analytical approximations of sufficient accuracy for most practical purposes. In a first... 

This coupling potential is smooth everywhere, which allows numerical calculations with high precision. There is no nonadiabatic coupling since the basis functions [0< )( 2C) are independent of p in each sector. The solution I Wf/o, 2C) is connected smoothly, in principle, from sector to sector by a unitary frame transformation from the /th set of channels to the (/ + l)st set [97-99]. The coordinate system is transformed from the hyperspherical to the Jacobi coordinates at some large p, beyond which the conventional close-coupling equations are employed for determining the asymptotic form of the wavefunction appropriate for the scattering boundary condition [100]. 

For energies below the dissociation threshold we can use various coordinate systems to solve the nuclear Schrodinger equation (2.32). If the displacement from equilibrium is small, normal coordinates are most appropriate (Wilson, Decius, and, Cross 1955 ch.2 Weissbluth 1978 ch.27 Daudel et al. 1983 ch.7 Atkins 1983 ch.ll). However, if the vibrational amplitudes increase so-called local coordinates become more advantageous (Child and Halonen 1984 Child 1985 Halonen 1989). Eventually, the molecular vibration becomes unbound and the molecule dissociates. Under such circumstances, Jacobi or so-called scattering coordinates are the most suitable coordinates they facilitate the definition of the boundary conditions of the continuum wavefunctions at infinite distances which we need to determine scattering or dissociation cross sections (Child 1991 ch.l0). Normal coordinates become less and less appropriate if the vibrational amplitudes increase they are completely impractical for the description of unbound motion in the continuum. 

By assuming harmonic forces and periodic boundary conditions, we can obtain a normal mode distribution function of the nuclear displacements at absolute zero temperature (under normal circumstances). The problem is then reduced to a classic system of coupled oscillators. The displacements of the coupled nuclei are the resultants of a series of monochromatic waves (the normal modes). The number of normal vibrational modes is determined by the number of degrees of freedom of the system (i.e. 3N, where N is the number of nuclei). Under these conditions the one-phonon dispersion relation can be evaluated and the DOS is obtained. Hence, the measured scattering intensities of equations (10) and (11) can be reconstructed. 

In classical physics we are familiar with another kind of stationary states, so-called steady states, for which observables are still constant in time however fluxes do exist. A system can asymptotically reach such a state when the boundary conditions are not compatible with equilibrium, for example, when it is put in contact with two heat reservoirs at different temperatures or matter reservoirs with different chemical potentials. Classical kinetic theory and nonequilibrium statistical mechanics deal with the relationships between given boundary conditions and the resulting steady-state fluxes. The time-independent formulation of scattering theory is in fact a quantum theory of a similar nature (see Section 2.10). 

The formalism and methodologies for these two cases are otherwise exactly the same. As a result, using the symmetrized hyperspherical coordinates p, 0, 9, inclusion of the effect of the GP on scattering calculations for H, is extremely simple, and is accomplished by imposing a simple boundary condition on the basis set for only one of the six coordinates which describe the nuclear motion of the system. This entails no increase in computational effort. 

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