Low-frequency scattering defined by the Helmholtz equation in one dimension

Abstract

The Helmholtz equation in one dimension, which describes the propagation of electromagnetic waves in effectively one-dimensional systems, is equivalent to the time-independent Schrödinger equation. The fact that the potential term entering the latter is energy-dependent obstructs the application of the results on low-energy quantum scattering in the study of the low-frequency waves satisfying the Helmholtz equation. We use a recently developed dynamical formulation of stationary scattering to offer a comprehensive treatment of the low-frequency scattering of these waves for a general finite-range scatterer. In particular, we give explicit formulas for the coefficients of the low-frequency series expansion of the transfer matrix of the system which in turn allow for determining the low-frequency expansions of its reflection, transmission, and absorption coefficients. Our general results reveal a number of interesting physical aspects of low-frequency scattering particularly in relation to permittivity profiles having balanced gain and loss.

16 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in J. Phys. A

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Cited by in corpus (1)

• Fundamental transfer matrix and dynamical formulation of stationary scattering in two and three dimensions