ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the scattering of particles by a fixed short-ranged potential; this excludes the case of a Coulomb potential, which requires separate treatment. The detectors of the scattered particle are located far away from the potential. The cross section is equivalently the total probability that the particle is scattered into a unit solid angle, divided by the total probability that crosses a unit area in front of the target. Experimentalists give their measurements in terms of cross sections. The theorist's problem is to calculate the differential cross section from the potential; to do this one must calculate the wave functions in the asymptotic region far from the potential.
