Partial Waves (10-325)
2. Partial waves
Using the expansion of $f(θ)$ in partial waves ℓ and orthogonality, show that the total cross section $σ = R d |f(θ)|^2 d\Omega$ is proportional to $Imf(θ = 0)$.
The scattered wave is
$ψ=f(θ)*(e^{i k r})/r$ where
$f(θ)=∑_{(l=0)}^∞ (2l+1) *a_l P_l (\cosθ)$
where $a_l$ are complex numbers representing the amplitudes of the partial waves.
$dσ/dΩ=|f|^2=∑_m ∑_n (2m+1)(2n+1) a_m^* a_n P_m (\cos θ) P_n (\cosθ)$
and
$σ=∫|f|^2 dΩ=4π∑_l (2l+1) |a_l |^2$ since $P_m$ and $P_n$ are orthogonal for $n? m$
We have from the first equation:
$Im (f(θ=0) )=∑_l (2l+1)*Im(a_l )*P_l (1) =A*∑_l (2l+1)*Im(a_l )$
with A real number
Here I am lost. I do not know how to show that
$|a_l |^2 \sim Im (a_l)$
I guess it is a mistake in text.