Geometric and obstacle scattering at low energy
Abstract We consider scattering theory of the Laplace Beltrami operator on differential forms on a Riemannian manifold that is Euclidean at infinity. The manifold may have several boundary components caused by obstacles at which relative boundary conditions are imposed. Scattering takes place because of the presence of these obstacles and possible non-trivial topology and geometry. Unlike in the case of functions eigenvalues generally exist at the bottom of the continuous spectrum and the corresponding eigenforms represent cohomology classes. We show that these eigenforms appear in the expansion of the resolvent, the scattering matrix, and the spectral measure in terms of the spectral parameter λ near zero, and we determine the first terms in this expansion explicitly. In dimension two an additional cohomology class appears as a resonant state in the presence of an obstacle. In even dimensions the expansion is in terms of λ and log λ. The theory of Hahn holomorphic functions is used to describe these expansions effectively. We also give a Birman-Krein formula in this context. The case of one-forms with relative boundary conditions has direct applications in physics as it describes the scattering of electromagnetic waves.