Generalized Backscattering and the Lax-Phillips Transform

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 35P25, 35R30, 58J50.

Using the free-space translation representation (modified Radon transform) of Lax and Phillips in odd dimensions, it is shown that the generalized backscattering transform (so outgoing angle w = Sq in terms of the incoming angle with S orthogonal and Id-S invertible) may be further restricted to give an entire, globally Fredholm, operator on appropriate Sobolev spaces of potentials with compact support. As a corollary we show that the modified backscattering map is a local isomorphism near elements of a generic set of potentials.