English

Vectorlike representation of one-dimensional scattering

Quantum Physics 2007-05-23 v1 Physics Education

Abstract

We present a self-contained discussion of the use of the transfer-matrix formalism to study one-dimensional scattering. We elaborate on the geometrical interpretation of this transfer matrix as a conformal mapping on the unit disk. By generalizing to the unit disk the idea of turns, introduced by Hamilton to represent rotations on the sphere, we develop a method to represent transfer matrices by hyperbolic turns, which can be composed by a simple parallelogramlike rule.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.quant-ph/0411081,
  title  = {Vectorlike representation of one-dimensional scattering},
  author = {L. L. Sanchez-Soto and J. F. Carinena and A. G. Barriuso and J. J. Monzon},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/0411081},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

8 pages, 5 figures. This paper is dedicated to Alberto Galindo the occasion of his seventieth birthday. Submitted for publication