Quantum scattering in helically twisted geometries: Coulomb-like interaction and Aharonov-Bohm effect

Abstract

We investigate the scattering of a charged quantum particle in a helically twisted background that induces an effective Coulomb-like interaction, in the presence of an Aharonov-Bohm (AB) flux. Starting from the nonrelativistic Schr\"odinger equation in the twisted metric, we derive the radial equation and show that, after including the AB potential, it can be mapped onto the same Kummer-type differential equation that governs the planar $2D$ Coulomb $+$ AB problem, with a geometry-induced Coulomb strength and the azimuthal quantum number shifted as $m\to m-\lambda$. We construct the exact scattering solutions, obtain closed expressions for the partial-wave $S$ matrix and phase shifts, and derive the corresponding scattering amplitude, differential cross section, and total cross section. We also show that the pole structure of the $S$ matrix is consistent with the bound-state quantization previously obtained for the helically twisted Coulomb-like problem.