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arXiv:0712.2651

Direct demonstration of the completeness of the eigenstates of the Schrodinger equation with local and non-local potentials bearing a Coulomb tail

N. Michel

Published Dec 17, 2007• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Demonstrating the completeness of wave functions solutions of the radial Schrodinger equation is a very difficult task. Existing proofs, relying on operator theory, are often very abstract and far from intuitive comprehension. However, it is possible to obtain rigorous proofs amenable to physical insight, if one restricts the considered class of Schrodinger potentials. One can mention in particular unbounded potentials yielding a purely discrete spectrum and short-range potentials. However, those possessing a Coulomb tail, very important for physical applications, have remained problematic due to their long-range character. The method proposed in this paper allows to treat them correctly, provided the non-Coulomb part of potentials vanishes after a finite radius. Non-locality of potentials can also be handled. The main idea in the proposed demonstration is that regular solutions behave like sine/cosine functions for large momenta, so that their expansions verify Fourier transform properties. The highly singular point at k = 0 of long-range potentials is dealt with properly using analytical properties of Coulomb wave functions. Lebesgue measure theory is avoided, rendering the demonstration clear from a physical point of view.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.0712.2651

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Demonstrating the completeness of wave functions solutions of the radial Schrodinger equation is a very difficult task. Existing proofs, relying on operator theory, are often very abstract and far from intuitive comprehension. However, it is possible to obtain rigorous proofs amenable to physical insight, if one restricts the considered class of Schrodinger potentials. One can mention in particular unbounded potentials yielding a purely discrete spectrum and short-range potentials. However, those possessing a Coulomb tail, very important for physical applications, have remained problematic due to their long-range character. The method proposed in this paper allows to treat them correctly, provided the non-Coulomb part of potentials vanishes after a finite radius. Non-locality of potentials can also be handled. The main idea in the proposed demonstration is that regular solutions behave like sine/cosine functions for large momenta, so that their expansions verify Fourier transform properties. The highly singular point at k = 0 of long-range potentials is dealt with properly using analytical properties of Coulomb wave functions. Lebesgue measure theory is avoided, rendering the demonstration clear from a physical point of view.
Demonstrating the completeness of wave function solutions of the radial Schrödinger equation is a very difficult task. Existing proofs, relying on operator theory, are often very abstract and far from intuitive comprehension. However, it is possible to obtain rigorous proofs amenable to physical insight, if one restricts the considered class of Schrödinger potentials. One can mention, in particular, unbounded potentials yielding a purely discrete spectrum and short-range potentials. However, those possessing a Coulomb tail, very important for physical applications, have remained problematic due to their long-range character. The method proposed in this paper allows to treat them correctly, provided that the non-Coulomb part of potentials vanishes after a finite radius. Nonlocality of potentials can also be handled. The main idea in the proposed demonstration is that regular solutions behave like sine/cosine functions for large momenta, so that their expansions verify Fourier transform properties. The highly singular point at k=0 of long-range potentials is dealt with properly using analytical properties of Coulomb wave functions. Lebesgue measure theory is avoided, rendering the demonstration clear from a physical point of view.
Given two spherically symmetric and short range potentials V0V_0V0​ and V_1 for which the radial Schrodinger equation can be solved explicitely at zero energy, we show how to construct a new potential VVV for which the radial equation can again be solved explicitely at zero energy. The new potential and its corresponding wave function are given explicitely in terms of V_0 and V_1, and their corresponding wave functions ϕ_0 and ϕ_1. V_0 must be such that it sustains no bound states (either repulsive, or attractive but weak). However, V_1 can sustain any (finite) number of bound states. The new potential V has the same number of bound states, by construction, but the corresponding (negative) energies are, of course, different. Once this is achieved, one can start then from V_0 and V, and construct a new potential \bar{V} for which the radial equation is again solvable explicitely. And the process can be repeated indefinitely. We exhibit first the construction, and the proof of its validity, for regular short range potentials, i.e. those for which rV_0(r) and rV_1(r) are L^1 at the origin. It is then seen that the construction extends automatically to potentials which are singular at r= 0. It can also be extended to V_0 long range (Coulomb, etc.). We give finally several explicit examples.
We revisit the discussion about the boundary condition at the origin in the Schrödinger radial equation for central potentials. We give a transparent and convincing reason for demanding the radial part R(r) of the wave function to be finite at r = 0, showing that if R(0) diverges the complete wave function ψ does not satisfy the full Schrödinger equation. If R(r) is singular, we show that the corresponding ψ follows an equation similar to Schrödinger's, but with an additional term involving the Dirac delta function or its derivatives at the origin. Although, in general, understanding some of our arguments requires certain knowledge of the theory of distributions, the important case of a behavior R ∝ 1/r near r = 0, which gives rise to a normalizable ψ, is especially simple: The origin of the Dirac delta term is clearly demonstrated by using a slight modification of the usual spherical coordinates. The argument can be easily followed by undergraduate physics students.
Laplace transform techniques for solving differential equations do not seem to have been directly applied to the Schrödinger equation in quantum mechanics. This may be because the Laplace transform of a wave function, in contrast to the Fourier transform, has no direct physical significance. However, this paper will show that scattering phase shifts and bound state energies can be determined from the singularities of the Laplace transform of the wave function. The Laplace transform method can thereby simplify calculations if the potential allows a straightforward solution of the transformed Schrödinger equation. Suitable cases are the Coulomb, oscillator and exponential potentials and the Yamaguchi separable non-local potential.
The spherically symmetric potential is considered whose dependence on the distance r is described by the smooth composition of Coulomb at r < r0 and oscillator at r > r0 potentials. The boundary distance r0 is determined by the parameters of these potentials. The exact continuous solution of the radial Schrödinger equation is expressed in terms of the confluent hypergeometric functions. The discrete energy levels are obtained. The graphic illustrations for the energy spectrum and the radial wave functions are presented.
We derive two equivalent analytical expressions for an lth partial-wave scattering length al for central potentials with long-range tails of the form V(r)=−ℏ22mBrn−4(rn−2 + Rn−2)2−ℏ22mCr2(rn−2 + Rn−2), (r ⩾ rs, R > 0). For C = 0, this family of potentials reduces to the Lenz potentials discussed in a similar context in our earlier works [R. Szmytkowski, Acta Phys. Pol. A 79, 613 (1991); J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 28, 7333 (1995)]. The formulas for al that we provide in this paper depend on the parameters B, C, and R characterizing the tail of the potential, on the core radius rs, as well as on the short-range scattering length als, the latter being due to the core part of the potential. The procedure, which may be viewed as an analytical extrapolation from als to al, is relied on the fact that the general solution to the zero-energy radial Schrödinger equation with the potential given above may be expressed analytically in terms of the generalized associated Legendre functions.