For a weak potential , the first Born approximation in the KdV Schrödinger convention is
Using , the scalar Lippmann-Schwinger equation is . The Born approximation replaces the total field inside the integral by the known incident field:
For a unit plane wave, its far-field pattern is . Thus each incident direction samples a shifted sphere in the Fourier transform of the potential.
Crystal scattering Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
In the Born approximation, scattering from identical atomic potentials translated to lattice sites factors into one atomic form factor times a finite sum of phases over the crystal sites.
Inverse scattering problem Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
An inverse scattering problem reconstructs a medium or obstacle from measured scattered waves. Under the Born approximation, fixed-frequency far-field data sample the Fourier transform of the scattering potential on a restricted frequency surface.
Let be the first-order scattered correction in the Born approximation for scalar wave scattering, using the paper's Green function convention. Comparing its outgoing integral with the preceding logarithmic correction gives
Therefore the exact algebraic relation between the two first-order approximations is
If , then on a controlled fixed region, and
Thus Born and Rytov agree to first order in the scattering potential, but differ as finite approximations. The Rytov approximation exponentiates the first logarithmic correction; the Born approximation adds the first field correction. The exponential's higher powers are not a calculation of all higher multiple-scattering terms in the Born series. This distinction explains why a smooth, appreciable wave phase accumulation can be represented more naturally by the Rytov approximation even when the corresponding linear field expansion is inaccurate.
The reciprocal lattice is . With oriented primitive-cell volume , its basis is and the cyclic variants; thus .
The total potential is . Using the Fourier transform convention , translation gives , with
The given Born approximation therefore supplies the amplitude . A finite geometric series gives, when the denominators are nonzero,
At reciprocal-lattice vectors each phase is one, so , the number of atoms. For large finite crystals these narrow peaks represent coherent Bragg scattering, with peak intensity proportional to the squared number of atoms; their finite width reflects the finite crystal size.
For the specified face-centered cubic lattice, and
The reciprocal lattice have coordinates with all even or all odd. The two shortest nonzero length families are for and for . Elastic scattering satisfies . The assumed incident magnitude exceeds , so both families are kinematically accessible, and
This is the angular prediction for suitable crystal orientations, or for a powder containing those orientations. A fixed single-crystal orientation must additionally satisfy the vector Elastic Bragg scattering condition ; the magnitude bound alone cannot guarantee both peaks for every incident direction.
Ignoring magnetization, electric polarization charge transport gives bound current . The assumed weak dielectric contrast therefore gives inside the sphere. This is the first Born approximation: the incident field supplies the electric polarization to leading order in .
For , the far-distance expansions are and . Substitute the retarded time into the phase in the Lorenz gauge vector potential. The phase becomes , so, using ,
The assumptions and control amplitude and phase errors respectively. In the radiation zone the supplied electric and magnetic fields satisfy . Complex phasors therefore give the time-averaged radial Poynting flux . The incident flux is , so
Orient spherical coordinates along to evaluate the form factor:
Consequently
At the bracket is interpreted by its limit , not a singularity. The transverse factor accounts for polarization of an electromagnetic wave; for complex polarization of an electromagnetic wave its squared norm means the Hermitian norm.
A three-dimensional Bravais lattice is the set of all integer combinations of three linearly independent primitive vectors. Its reciprocal lattice is
and the first Brillouin zone is the Wigner-Seitz cell of the origin in reciprocal space.
For the stated FCC lattice, the primitive-cell volume is
The reciprocal-basis formula gives
A reciprocal primitive cell, and hence the Brillouin zone, has volume
In the first Born approximation, with momentum transfer , the scattering amplitude is
For the spherical shell, align the polar axis with and use its radial Dirac delta function:
Therefore
Translation of each atomic potential multiplies its transform by a phase, so the crystal lattice structure factor gives
For an infinite lattice, the lattice Poisson summation formula turns the sum into
Thus the amplitude vanishes away from reciprocal-lattice momentum transfers.
In elastic scattering, and hence
The two shortest relevant reciprocal-vector lengths of this FCC lattice are
Both are kinematically available when . Assigning their scattering angles and , respectively, gives
After separating the conserved horizontal factor as , the Helmholtz equation becomes
where is the Heaviside step function. The outgoing Green function for is
The Born approximation at first order replaces on the right-hand side by the incident profile . For this gives
The integral is understood with the usual outgoing-wave convergence factor. Since
we obtain
Therefore the Born reflected field is
The Taylor expansion of the square root is
Substitution into the exact reflection coefficient gives
Consequently
This is exactly the reflected field furnished by both the Born approximation and the term linear in in the Rytov approximation. Thus the exact, Born, and Rytov fields agree through first order. If the Rytov exponential is retained without re-expansion, its higher powers generate spatial harmonics ; those terms are part of the approximation and should not be confused with the exact interface's single reflected wave.
Let the Bravais lattice have primitive vectors , and put
The reciprocal lattice has the basis
The scalar triple product and cross product identities give
Consequently every satisfies for every lattice point , and conversely these three conditions force the coefficients of in the reciprocal basis to be integers. This proves that the displayed vectors generate .
In the Born approximation, suppose that the crystal potential is the sum of translates of one atomic potential over the finite set of lattice sites. Its Fourier transform at the momentum transfer factors as
Thus the single-atom scattering amplitude is multiplied by the crystal lattice structure factor . Writing
separates the sum into three finite geometric series. For this gives
When the are large, a factor has a sharp maximum when . All three factors are therefore simultaneously large precisely when . These are the reciprocal-lattice peaks of a finite crystal.
For the stated Body-centered cubic lattice basis,
the reciprocal-basis formula gives
Equivalently,
The shortest nonzero reciprocal vectors have squared Euclidean norm , so
In elastic scattering, . If and is the angle between and , Euclidean geometry gives
The first possible diffraction peak therefore occurs at
as , by the small-angle approximation. This is the elastic Bragg scattering condition for the shortest reciprocal-lattice vector.
Use the sign convention in the question,
Then the total field satisfies
The outgoing free-space Green function is
with . Hence the Lippmann-Schwinger equation is
Replacing the unknown interior total field by the incident field gives the first Born approximation
For the Rytov approximation, put . After division by , the wave equation gives
Neglecting the quadratic term makes obey the same inhomogeneous equation as the first Born scattered field. Thus
and
Its power series begins
so the two approximations agree through first order in the scattering potential.
The inverse problem is ill posed for several related reasons. At one frequency and one incident direction, the data sample only on the two-dimensional Ewald surface , so three-dimensional reconstruction is nonunique without more illuminations or prior information. Finite aperture and a bounded frequency band omit additional Fourier components and limit resolution. The forward map is compact, so its singular values tend to zero and inversion strongly amplifies measurement noise. Finally, the Born approximation neglects multiple scattering; model error becomes significant when the contrast or support is too large, while uncertainty in the incident field, measurement geometry, and domain creates further instability.
With the scattering potential , the total field obeys
The outgoing Green function is . The Lippmann-Schwinger equation and the first Born approximation give
For ,
so
where is the momentum transfer. Thus the far-field pattern is times the Fourier transform of at the measured transfer vectors. If sufficiently many incident directions and frequencies supply all , the formal reconstruction is
with constants adjusted to the chosen Fourier convention.
Insert the incident plane wave for in the integral. At large , , so the outgoing amplitude is
Thus Born approximation gives the stated differential cross section.