The semiclassical structure of the scattering matrix for a manifold with infinite cylindrical end

Abstract

We study the microlocal properties of the scattering matrix associated to the semiclassical Schr\"odinger operator $P=h^2\Delta_X+V$ on a Riemannian manifold with an infinite cylindrical end. The scattering matrix at $E=1$ is a linear operator $S=S_h$ defined on a Hilbert subspace of $L^2(Y)$ that parameterizes the continuous spectrum of $P$ at energy $1$. Here $Y$ is the cross section of the end of $X$, which is not necessarily connected. We show that, under certain assumptions, microlocally $S$ is a Fourier integral operator associated to the graph of the scattering map $\kappa:\mathcal{D}_{\kappa}\to T^*Y$, with $\mathcal{D}_\kappa\subset T^*Y$. The scattering map $\kappa$ and its domain $\mathcal{D}_\kappa$ are determined by the Hamilton flow of the principal symbol of $P$. As an application we prove that, under additional hypotheses on the scattering map, the eigenvalues of the associated unitary scattering matrix are equidistributed on the unit circle.