Cross-sections in Lorenz-Mie theory and quantum scattering : Formal analogies

Abstract We consider the scattering of a plane wave by a sphere (Lorenz–Mie theory) and the corresponding quantum problem of scattering of an illuminating plane wave beam by a radial potential U ( r ), and demonstrate that cross-sections in both frameworks are amenable to identical expressions, excepted for zero-order phase shift terms which are specific of the quantum framework.