Semiclassical analysis of low and zero energy scattering for one dimensional Schrödinger operators with inverse square potentials

Costin, Ovidiu; Schlag, Wilhelm; Staubach, Wolfgang; Tanveer, Saleh

Semiclassical analysis of low and zero energy scattering for one dimensional Schrödinger operators with inverse square potentials

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This paper studies the scattering matrix $Σ(E;\hbar)$ of the problem \[ -\hbar^2 ψ''(x) + V(x) ψ(x) = Eψ(x) \] for positive potentials $V\in C^\infty(\R)$ with inverse square behavior as $x\to\pm\infty$. It is shown that each entry takes the form $Σ_{ij}(E;\hbar)=Σ_{ij}^{(0)}(E;\hbar)(1+\hbar σ_{ij}(E;\hbar))$ where $Σ_{ij}^{(0)}(E;\hbar)$ is the WKB approximation relative to the {\em modified potential} $V(x)+\frac{\hbar^2}{4} \la x\ra^{-2}$ and the correction terms $σ_{ij}$ satisfy $|\partial_E^k σ_{ij}(E;\hbar)| \le C_k E^{-k}$ for all $k\ge0$ and uniformly in $(E,\hbar)\in (0,E_0)\times (0,\hbar_0)$ where $E_0,\hbar_0$ are small constants. This asymptotic behavior is not universal: if $-\hbar^2\partial_x^2 + V$ has a {\em zero energy resonance}, then $Σ(E;\hbar)$ exhibits different asymptotic behavior as $E\to0$. The resonant case is excluded here due to $V>0$.