Scattering theory of the Hodge-Laplacian under a conformal perturbation

Abstract: Let $g$ and $\tilde{g}$ be Riemannian metrics on a noncompact manifold $M$, which are conformally equivalent. We show that under a very mild \emph{first order} control on the conformal factor, the wave operators corresponding to the Hodge-Laplacians $\Delta_g$ and $\Delta_{\tilde{g}}$ acting on differential forms exist and are complete. We apply this result to Riemannian manifolds with a bounded geometry and more specifically, to warped product Riemannian manifolds with a bounded geometry. Finally, we combine our results with some explicit calculations by Antoci to determine the absolutely continuous spectrum of the Hodge-Laplacian on $j$-forms for a large class of warped product metrics.