Scattering in multiparticle and billiard dynamical systems (Q4940751)

The authors study scattering in multiparticle systems on the line, governed by a Hamiltonian of the form \[ H = \sum^d_{i=1} p^2_i/2m_i + \sum^{d-1}_{i=1} u_i(x_{i+1}-x_i) + W(x) \] (subject to certain technical assumptions). Their main aim is to characterize sets of masses for which the corresponding multiparticle system can have triangular scattering. In fact, a notion of simple scattering is defined which generalizes the concept of triangular scattering, and simplicity of scattering in a system of \(n\) elastically colliding particles on a line is equivalent to simple scattering for a billiard in the corresponding polyhedral cone in \({\mathbb R}^n\). The first main theorem states that scattering of a billiard system in a convex polyhedral cone \(V\) is simple iff V is isometric to the closure of some chamber for a finite Coxeter group generated by orthogonal reflections. This result is used to compute for what sort of masses the multiparticle system on the line has simple scattering. Taking due account of the translation invariance of the system, this computation essentially follows from the classification of irreducible finite groups generated by reflections. In the final section, billiards with simple scattering in non-compact domains are studied. After establishing a result concerning the associated cone in an arbitrary dimension \(d\), the authors further refine the theory for the particular case \(d=2\). They show that: if the billiard in a convex closed subset \(V\), containing a sector, has simple scattering, then \(V\) is a polygon, linearized mirror reflections about its sides generate a Coxeter group \(W\), and some parallel translation of \(V\) lies in a chamber of \(W\). The proofs of most statements in this paper are quite technical and often require establishing a number of preliminary results and lemmas.