Adiabatic approximation, semiclassical scattering, and unidirectional invisibility

Abstract

The transfer matrix of a possibly complex and energy-dependent scattering potential can be identified with the S-matrix of a two-level time-dependent non-Hermitian Hamiltonian H(τ). We show that the application of the adiabatic approximation to H(τ) corresponds to the semiclassical description of the original scattering problem. In particular, the geometric part of the phase of the evolving eigenvectors of H(τ) gives the pre-exponential factor of the WKB wave functions. We use these observations to give an explicit semiclassical expression for the transfer matrix. This allows for a detailed study of the semiclassical unidirectional reflectionlessness and invisibility. We examine concrete realizations of the latter in the realm of optics.