 Golden-rule derivation of the Born cross-section

For box-normalized plane waves in volume $\mathcal{V}$, a potential has matrix element $\tilde{W}({\mathbf{k}}_f-{\mathbf{k}}_i)/\mathcal{V}$. The final-state density per energy and solid angle is $\mathcal{V}m{k}_f/[(2\pi {)}^3{\hslash }^2]$. Dividing the golden-rule rate by incident flux $\hslash k_i/(m\mathcal{V})$ gives $(m^2/4{\pi }^2{\hslash }^4)(k_f/k_i)|\tilde{W}{|}^2$. Elastic scattering has $k_f=k_i$; the arbitrary box volume cancels.