Time development of a wave packet and the time delay

Abstract

A one-dimensional scattering problem off a $\delta$-shaped potential is solved analytically and the time development of a wave packet is derived from the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation. The exact and explicit expression of the scattered wave packet supplies us with interesting information about the "time delay" by potential scattering in the asymptotic region. It is demonstrated that a wave packet scattered by a spin-flipping potential can give us quite a different value for the delay times from that obtained without spin-degrees of freedom.