A quantum mechanical evaluation of the intermediate scattering function

TL;DR

This paper presents a quantum mechanical approach to evaluate the intermediate scattering function, interpreting it as a correlation of thermal wave packets, with applications demonstrated on ballistic centers and CO on Cu(100).

Contribution

It introduces a novel quantum mechanical framework for calculating the intermediate scattering function and provides a numerical method validated on specific physical systems.

Findings

Quantum mechanical interpretation of the scattering function

Numerical method demonstrated on CO/Cu(100) system

Correlation of thermal wave packets analyzed

Abstract

The intermediate scattering function is interpreted as a correlation function of thermal wave packets of the scattering centers perturbed by the scattering particles at different times. A proof of concept is given at the example of ballistic moving centers. The ensuing numerical method is then illustrated at the example of CO adsorbed on Cu(100).