Coulomb scattering in the Born approximation and the use of generalized functions

Abstract

We discuss three ways of obtaining the Born approximations for Coulomb scattering: The standard way, making use of a convergence factor ("screening"), Oppenheimer's way using cylindrical (instead of spherical) coordinates, and finally Landau and Lifshitz' way. The last one although it does require some background from the theory of generalized functions is nevertheless a very instructive and important technique deserving more exposure to physicists.