An Expansion of Binary Collision Phase Shifts in Powers of <i>h</i>

Abstract

The phase shifts in binary collisions are expressed as series in increasing powers of Planck's constant, h. The series begins with a term in h—1 and contains all odd powers. Recursion relations are developed which lead to an expression for an arbitrary term in the series. The results apply to an arbitrary interaction potential function, for which any odd number of classical turning points may arise.