Hypervirial Theorems for Variational Wave Functions in Scattering Theory

Abstract

The form of hypervirial theorem which is appropriate in scattering theory is discussed in general terms. It is shown that variational wave functions which are optimized in accordance with Kohn's variational principle do satisfy hypervirial theorems. Thus such theorems may be useful in selecting approximate wave functions to give accurate phase shifts or scattering amplitudes. The situation is analogous to that of energy-optimized wave functions for bound-state systems.