Poincare's Recurrence Theorem and the Unitarity of the S matrix

Abstract

A scattering process can be described by suitably closing the system and considering the first return map from the entrance onto itself. This scattering map may be singular and discontinuous, but it will be measure preserving as a consequence of the recurrence theorem applied to any region of a simpler map. In the case of a billiard this is the Birkhoff map. The semiclassical quantization of the Birkhoff map can be subdivided into an entrance and a repeller. The construction of a scattering operator then follows in exact analogy to the classical process. Generically, the approximate unitarity of the semiclassical Birkhoff map is inherited by the S-matrix, even for highly resonant scattering where direct quantization of the scattering map breaks down.