On Semiclassical Scattering

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The behavior of the quantum-mechanical phase shifts for scattering by a potential well is examined in the classical limit. The phase shifts tend to zero in the classical limit for all cases in which the corresponding classical trajectory does not pass through the well. This disproves by counterexample the result of Curtiss and Powers which indicated that there should be a contribution to the phase shifts even in the classical limit from classically inaccessible but energetically possible regions between two inner classical turning points. The error in the latter result appears to arise from the neglect of bound states of positive energy which exist in the classical limit (and only in that limit).

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit: