Article Summary #2

Justin Yang

Bibliography

Taylor, R.J. 1972. Fundamentals of Time-independent Multichannel Scattering.

Pages 358-364 in Dover Scattering Theory: The Quantum Theory of Nonrelativistic Collisions. John Wiley and Sons. NY.

Reason why I chose the article

I chose this chapter in Taylors book on scattering theory because it was a logical
step to take after reading the introductory formalism on multichannel scattering
in chapters 16 and 17. This chapter includes topics on the stationary scattering
states for multichannel scattering, the Lippmann-Schwinger equation,a nd the
To operator. All of these are important topics, and although I have covered them
for single channel scattering, I have yet to review the formalism for multiple
channels.

How I found it

I found this chapter in Taylors book on scattering theory because I had already
read chapters 16 and 17 for an introduction to the multichannel scattering formalism and I wanted to learn more about multichannel scattering, so I moved
on to chapter 18.

Summary of the article

Taylor has already introducted a description of the multichannel collision process

in terms of the S operator and on-shell T matrix in the previous two chapters.
The purpose of this chapter is to furnish methods for actually computing the
T matrix for given interactions. Of central importance to the time-independent
formalism are the Greens operators G(z) and G0 (z), the T operator T (z),
and the stationary scattering states |pi. The stationary scattering states are
improper eigenvectors of the full Hamiltonian corresponding to the mapping of
the incoming plane wave state |pi into the state at time 0 in the single channel
problem. Taylor defines the multichannel stationary scattering states as
|p, i =
|p, i .

(1)

Using the expanded form of the Moller operators in terms of an integral, Taylor
inserts a damping factor et into the integral and immediate shows that the
1

multichannel stationary scattering states have the following form:

|p, i = |p, i + G(E i0)V |p, i ,

(2)

where G is the Greens operator G(z) = (z H)1 and V is the scattering

potential for channel . The importance of this expression is that it can be
directly used to obtain the expression for the on-shell T matrix. The S matrix
elements in momentum space are
hp0 , | S |p, i = hp0 , |p, +i .

(3)

Substituting (2) into the right side of (3), the on-shell T matrix immediately
follows:
t(p0 , p, ) = hp0 , |V |p, i
(4)
Taylor also defines Greens operators for multiple channels as
G (z) = (z H )1 .

(5)

Using the identity A1 = B 1 + B 1 (B A)A1 , he derives the LippmannSchwinger equation for multiple channels
|p, i = |p, i + G (E i0)V |p, i .

(6)

The significance of this equation is that it is an integral equation for the wave
functions and is a principle approach for the computation of stationary scattering states. Taylor also defines the T operator based on expression (4). Substituting expression (2) for |p, i into the right hand side of (4) gives
t(p0 , p, ) = hp0 , | T (E + i0) |p, i ,

(7)

where the T operator is defined as

T (z) = V + V G(z)V .

(8)

The significance of this expression is clear: T is the on-shell T matrix for a

transition from channel to channel . Expression (8) can also be rewritten as
T (z) = V + V G (z)T (z).

(9)

This expression can be iterated in order to produce an approximation for the

on-shell T matrix.

What new information I learned

I learned several new things from this chapter of Taylors book on scattering
theory. Firstly, I learned that the extension of the scattering formalism from one
channel to multiple channels is actually fairly straightforward, with only slight
changes to the equations used. However, I also learned that the main difficulty
encountered in the actual multichannel formalism is that quantities such as H
contain extra potentials and that the corresponding Greens operator G cannot
be exactly calculated.
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How this information relates to previous information

This information relates to previous information because it is a direct extension

of the single channel scattering formalism to the problem of multiple channels.
This information applies more to my research than the previous formalisms
because I am studying a two channel problem.

My thoughts on the new information

I think that this new formalism is a lot more interesting than the old one.
Taylors exposition was also very clear. I fully understand that an extra degree
of freedom in the problem is that different amplitudes for transitions between
different channels must also be considered. Now that I know most of the theory
for multichannel scattering, I think it would be interesting to extend the research
that I am currently working on to more than just two coupled channels. Of
course, that problem would be a lot more difficult, but it would also be more
applicable to actual problems, since actual scattering scenarios usually have
more than two channels.