BORN APPROXIMATION

57

x k G(x1, x2) x1 V (x) d3x O

e i k.x

x2

Figure 2.2 Building blocks for the graphical representation of terms in the von Neuman series

k x V(x1) d 3x1 G(x, x1) x1 e x1

x) G(x 1, 2

e i k.x i k.x1

k x2 V(x2) d 3x2 e k i k.x2

G(x, x1)

V(x1) d 3x1

Figure 2.3 Graphical representation of the rst three terms in the von Neumann series

from x2 to x1 , scattered at x1 by V (x1 ) d3 x1 , and propagated from x1 to x. The net result is that the incident particle is propagated to the point x, but now with two scatters in the target along the way. The gure represents all of space but in practice the points xi are all near the target because only there is V (xi ) non-zero. As noted before, under our assumption that V is sufciently small, such double scattering is less likely than single scattering. The manner in which these graphical representations can be extended to the next terms is clear. Note that the wavefunction (x) is the sum of terms representing no scatter, one scatter, two scatters, and so on. We sum wave function components (or amplitudes) over all possible paths through the target. Note that we do not sum probabilities. Our current treatment is non-relativistic. This type of graphical representation has been rened by Feynman for the relativistically correct theory of the interaction of the electromagnetic eld with charged particles. That theory is called Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) and its graphs representing the interaction of a charge with the electromagnetic eld are called Feynman graphs.