Quantum-mechanical deflection function

The classical deflection function for scattering by a radially symmetric potential corresponds to twice the angular momentum derivative of the scattering phase shifts calculated in the conventional WKB approximation. A “quantum-mechanical deflection function” defined as twice the angular momentum derivative of the quantum-mechanical phase shifts (without WKB approximation) is able to incorporate into the simple trajectory picture certain quantum aspects of the scattering process, e.g., the influence of the Goos-Hänchen shift. We demonstrate the performance of this quantum-mechanical deflection function for sharp-edged and smooth-edged two-dimensional scattering potentials.