Small angle scattering and X-ray transform in classical mechanics

The paper deals with the classical scattering problem for Newton equation in \({\mathbb R}^d\), \(d\geq 2\): \[ \ddot{x}=F(x), \quad F(x)= -\nabla v(x), \quad x\in {\mathbb R}^d, \] where \(v\in C^2({\mathbb R}^d, {\mathbb R})\) is such that \(|\partial^{j}_x v(x)|\leq c_{| j |}(1+| x|)^{-(\alpha+| j|)}\) for all \(| j|\leq 2\) and some \(\alpha>1\). \textit{M.~Reed} and \textit{B.~Simon} showed in [Methods of modern mathematical physics. III: Scattering theory. New York, San Francisco, London: Academic Press. XV (1979; Zbl 0405.47007)] that for every \((p_{-}, x_{-})\in {\mathbb R}^{2 d}\), \(p_{-}\neq 0\), there exists a unique solution \(x\in C^2({\mathbb R}, {\mathbb R}^d)\) such that: \[ x(t)=p_{-}t+x_{-}+y_{-}(t)\quad \text{with} \quad \dot{y}_{-}(t)\to 0,\quad y_{-}(t) \to 0 \;\text{as}\;t\to -\infty, \] and in addition for almost every \((p_{-}, x_{-}), p_{-}\neq 0\) \[ x(t)=p_{+}t+x_{+}+y_{+}(t), \] where \(p_{+}\neq 0\), \(p_{+} = a(p_{-}, x_{-})\), \(x_{+} = b(p_{-}, x_{-})\), \(\dot{y}_{+}(t)\to 0\), \(y_{+}(t) \to 0\) as \(t\to +\infty.\) The scattering map \(S: {\mathbb R}^{2d} \to {\mathbb R}^{2d}\) is given by the formula \[ S(p_{-}, x_{-})= (p_{+}, x_{+}) \] with the domain of definition \(D(S)\) consisting of those \((p_{-}, x_{-})\) for which \(p_{-}\neq 0\) and \(a(p_{-}, x_{-})\neq 0\). The map \(S\) restricted to the elements of \(D(S)\) with \(p_{-}^2=2E\) is called the scattering map at fixed energy \(E\). The paper gives estimates and asymptotics for \(y_{-}(t)\) and the scattering data \(a(p_{-}, x_{-})-p_{-}\), \(b(p_{-}, x_{-})-x_{-}\). These are considered for small angle scattering, that is for angles between \(\dot{x}(t)\) and \(p_{-}\). The main feature of these asymptotics is that their leading terms involve the \(X\)-ray transforms of \(F\) and \(v\) (Theorem~3.1 and Proposition 3.1); thus these asymptotics show that the scattering data at high energies determine the \(X\)-ray transforms \(PF\) and \(Pv\) (here \(Pf(\theta,x)=\int_{-\infty}^{+\infty} f(t\theta+x)\text{d}t\), \((\theta, t)\in TS^{d-1}\) for appropriate \(f\).) This result together with results on inversion of the \(X\)-ray transform \(P\) allows the author to conclude that, for \(d\geq 2\), scattering data at high energies uniquely determine \(F\) and \(v\). For compactly supported potentials, a uniqueness theorem for inverse scattering at fixed energies is obtained using a connection between boundary data and scattering data and results of \textit{M. L.~Gerver} and \textit{N. S.~Nadirashvili} in [Comput. Seismol. 15, 118--125 (1983)].

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