A new efficient approach for the calculation of cross-sections with application to Yukawa potential

Abstract

Large-scale and systematic calculations of scattering amplitudes and cross-sections for charged particle collisions are of fundamental importance for understanding the physical properties of materials in different research fields. However, the elaborated theoretical methods for cross-sections are generally restricted to a finite range of impact energies. Here, we present an efficient approach for the calculation of the scattering amplitude and cross-sections ranging from low to high collision energies based on the variable phase method, where the Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin and Born approximations for scattering phase shifts (SPSs) are incorporated into the numerical algorithm to alleviate the computational cost. For this purpose, quantitative criteria for the validity of these approximations are established based on the properties of the turning points of the potentials. For different scattering potentials, the corresponding planes can be established as a guideline to select the optimal combination for calculating the scattering amplitude and cross-section. The demand for quantum treatment of phase shifts is reduced by one to two orders of magnitude, which strongly benefits the computation of cross-sections for high-energy scattering. It has been found that the quantum treatment for SPSs is necessary near the quantum states involving quantum tunneling and resonance. To testify the validity of the approach, the SPSs and also transport cross-sections are calculated for Yukawa potentials, and good agreements are obtained in comparison with other available high-precision calculations. The proposed numerical approach can be straightforwardly generalized to other scattering potentials and permits one to efficiently calculate the scattering cross-sections for a large energy range.