Nonuniqueness of scattering amplitudes at special points

Abstract

We point out little discussed phenomenon in elementary quantum mechanics. In one-dimensional potential scattering problems, the scattering amplitudes are not uniquely determined at special points in parameter space. We examine a few explicit examples. We also discuss the relation with the pole-skipping phenomena recently found in holographic duality. In the holographic pole-skipping, the retarded Green's functions are not uniquely determined at imaginary Matsubara frequencies. It turns out that this universality comes from the fact that the corresponding potential scattering problem has the angular momentum potential.