Past exam of the theoretical physics II course of the University of Cambridge / 2019 / 2 / b / Solution

Integrate the squared partial-wave expansion of a scattering amplitude over the solid angle. Legendre polynomial orthogonality eliminates terms with unequal angular-momentum indices, givingAt zero scattering angle, $P_{\ell }(1)=1$ and $\mathrm{Im}(e^{i{\delta }_{\ell }}\sin {\delta }_{\ell })={\sin }^2{\delta }_{\ell }$. ConsequentlyThis is the optical theorem. In the present elastic problem the total and elastic cross sections coincide. For an absorptive interaction the inclusive total still obeys the optical theorem, but need not equal the integral of the elastic differential cross section.