Stationary-state scattering theory

Stationary-state scattering theory for electrons by molecules... 

The fixed nuclear approximation is extremely useful, not only for the bound states, but also for the treatment of electronic scattering by molecules. For instance, stationary-state scattering theories within the fixed nuclear approximation have been extensively developed for molecular photoionization [18, 250, 336, 516] and electron scattering from polyatomic molecules [210, 418, 419]. These scattering phenomena are quite important in that they are widely foimd in nature as elementary processes and even in industrial applications using plasma processes. These scatterings may be referred to as stationary-state electron dynamics in fixed nuclei approximation. 

The above stationary-state scattering theory looks rather complicated but it is actually quite powerful to determine the scattering amplitude and cross sections for electron scattering for polyatomic molecules. Many such prominent examples are seen in the series of very active works by the Vincent McKoy group. 

There are two classes in applications of quantum nuclear dynamics one is the stationary-state scattering theory to treat reactive scattering (chemical reactions), and the other is time-dependent wavepacket method. Here... 

All approaches discussed thus far rest on stationary-state collision theory. Time-dependent scattering theory has also been applied, making use of different potential-energy surfaces, for a description of the H + Hg reaction by BffAZUR and RUBIN /94/, Mc.GULLOUGH and WYATT /95/, and ZURT, KAMAL and ZOLIGKE /96/. The wave function in the initial state, chosen at a moment t = t far before the collision, is represented by the product (102.11) where is a trans-... 

One aspect of the mathematical treatment of the quantum mechanical theory is of particular interest. The wavefunction of the perturbed molecule (i.e. the molecule after the radiation is switched on ) involves a summation over all the stationary states of the unperturbed molecule (i.e. the molecule before the radiation is switched on ). The expression for intensity of the line arising from the transition k —> n involves a product of transition moments, MkrMrn, where r is any one of the stationary states and is often referred to as the third common level in the scattering act. 

In Section 2.1 we derived the expression for the transition rate kfi (2.22) by expanding the time-dependent wavefunction P(t) in terms of orthogonal and complete stationary wavefunctions Fa [see Equation (2.9)]. For bound-free transitions we proceed in the same way with the exception that the expansion functions for the nuclear part of the total wavefunction are continuum rather than bound-state wavefunctions. The definition and construction of the continuum basis belongs to the field of scattering theory (Wu and Ohmura 1962 Taylor 1972). In the following we present a short summary specialized to the linear triatomic molecule. 

This part introduces variational principles relevant to the quantum mechanics of bound stationary states. Chapter 4 covers well-known variational theory that underlies modern computational methodology for electronic states of atoms and molecules. Extension to condensed matter is deferred until Part III, since continuum theory is part of the formal basis of the multiple scattering theory that has been developed for applications in this subfield. Chapter 5 develops the variational theory that underlies independent-electron models, now widely used to transcend the practical limitations of direct variational methods for large systems. This is extended in Chapter 6 to time-dependent variational theory in the context of independent-electron models, including linear-response theory and its relationship to excitation energies. 

In bound-state calculations, the Rayleigh-Ritz or Schrodinger variational principle provides both an upper bound to an exact energy and a stationary property that determines free parameters in the wave function. In scattering theory, the energy is specified in advance. Variational principles are used to determine the wave function but do not generally provide variational bounds. A variational functional is made stationary by choice of variational parameters, but the sign of the residual error is not determined. Because there is no well-defined bounded quantity, there is no simple absolute standard of comparison between different variational trial functions. The present discussion will develop a stationary estimate of the multichannel A -matrix. Because this matrix is real and symmetric for open channels, it provides the most... 

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). 

Besides the diseontinuous states there are also wstates forming a continuous range (with positive energy) they correspond to the hyperbolic orbits of Bohr s theory. The jumps from one hyperbola to another or to a stationary state give rise to the emission of the continuous X-ray spectrum emitted when electrons are scattered or caught by nuclei. The intensity of this spectrum has been calculated by Kramers (1923) from the standpoint of Bohr s theory by a very ingenious application of the correspondence principle. His... 

The time-independent scattering theory is based on the stationary Schrbdinger equation (2 1) Its eigenfunctions for the free motion before and after the collision are plane waves A plane wave,however, can not be normalized in the usual way, which means that it does not represent the real physical state of a single particle. The usual interpretation of the plane wave is that it describes a flxrsc of non-... 

Variational methods are at present used extensively in the study of inelastic and reactive scattering involving atoms and diatomic molecules[l-5]. Three of the most commonly used variational methods are due to Kohn (the KVP)[6], Schwinger (the SVP)[7] and Newton (the NVP)[8]. In the applications of these methods, the wavefunction is typically expanded in a set of basis functions, parametrized by the expansion coefficients. These linear variational parameters are then determined so as to render the variational functional stationary. Unlike the variational methods in bound state calculations, the variational principles of scattering theory do not provide an upper or lower bound to the quantity of interest, except in certain special cases.[9] Neverthless, variational methods are useful because, the minimum basis size with which an acceptable level of accuracy can be achieved using a variational method is often much smaller than those required if nonvariational methods are used. The reason for this is generally explained by showing (as... 

In Fano s [29] formal theory of resonance states, the energy-dependent wavefunctions are stationary, the energies are real, and the formalism is Hermitian. The observable quantities, such as the photoabsorption cross-section in the presence of a resonance, are energy-dependent and the theory provides them in terms of computable matrix elements involving prediagonalized bound and scattering N-electron basis sets. The serious MEP of how to compute and utilize in a practical way these sets for arbitrary N-electron systems is left open. 

Resonant enhancements of scattering cross-sections in multichannel collision physics are often described in terms of the Feshbach theory of closed-channel resonance states [57], Feshbach s general formalism involves projecting the stationary Schrddinger equation onto complementary subspaces associated with the open and closed scattering channels. This theory has been applied in the context of the nearthreshold collision physics of ultracold gases consisting of alkali-metal atoms in a variety of different approaches (e.g.. Refs. [9,30,58]). 

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