The inherently homogeneous stationary-state and time-dependent Schroedinger equations are often recast into inhomogeneous form in order to resolve their solution nonuniqueness. The inhomogeneous term can impose an initial condition or, for scattering, the preferred permitted asymptotic behavior. For bound states it provides sufficient focus to exclude all but one of the homogeneous version's solutions. Because of their unique solutions, such inhomogeneous versions of Schroedinger equations have long been the indispensable basis for a solution scheme of successive perturbational corrections which are anchored by their inhomogeneous term. Here it is noted that every such perturbational solution scheme for an inhomogeneous linear vector equation spins off a nonperturbational continued-fraction scheme. Unlike its representation-independent antecedent, the spin-off scheme only works in representations where all components of the equation's inhomogeneous term are nonzero. But that requirement seems to confer theoretical physics robustness heretofore unknown: for quantum fields the order of the perturbation places a bound on unperturbed particle number, the spin-off scheme contrariwise has only basis elements of unbounded unperturbed particle number. It furthermore is difficult to visualize such a continued-fraction spin-off scheme generating infinities, since its successive iterations always go into denominators.
The inherently homogeneous stationary-state and time-dependent Schroedinger equations are often recast into inhomogeneous form in order to resolve their solution nonuniqueness. The inhomogeneous term can impose an initial condition or, for scattering, the preferred permitted asymptotic behavior. For bound states it provides sufficient focus to exclude all but one of the homogeneous version's solutions. Because of their unique solutions, such inhomogeneous versions of Schroedinger equations have long been the indispensable basis for a solution scheme of successive perturbational corrections which are anchored by their inhomogeneous term. Here it is noted that every such perturbational solution scheme for an inhomogeneous linear vector equation spins off a nonperturbational continued-fraction scheme. Unlike its representation-independent antecedent, the spin-off scheme only works in representations where all components of the equation's inhomogeneous term are nonzero. But that requirement seems to confer theoretical physics robustness heretofore unknown: for quantum fields the order of the perturbation places a bound on unperturbed particle number, the spin-off scheme contrariwise has only basis elements of unbounded unperturbed particle number. It furthermore is difficult to visualize such a continued-fraction spin-off scheme generating infinities, since its successive iterations always go into denominators.
The orders of the perturbation approximation to the Schroedinger-picture time evolution operator in powers of the presumed-small perturbation part of the Hamiltonian operator are developed by the iteration of an identity; the possibly confusing switch to the interaction picture isn't needed. Those time-evolution operator approximations are sandwiched between two orthogonal, normalized eigenstates of the unperturbed part of the Hamiltonian operator to produce the transition amplitude approximations, whose calculation is reduced to quadrature when every occurrence of the perturbation part of the Hamiltonian operator in them is expanded in the unperturbed basis. That expansion also reveals the time-dependent parts of those approximations to be multiply nested integrals which in the long-time limit approach simple products of non-singular inverses (principle value plus delta function) of differences of unperturbed energy eigenvalues. Closely related to the long-time limits of transition amplitudes are the long-time averages of transition rates. When the unperturbed basis is that of free-particle states, sums over relevant final states of transition rates from an initial state, divided by the initial state's particle flux, produce cross sections. Here the perturbation approximations to generic quantum transition rates are parlayed to the corresponding approximations to differential cross sections for nonrelativistic-particle potential scattering.
Abstract In a previous paper the theory of perturbations was discussed for system which possess only discrete spectra. The theory is now extended to systems with both discrete and continuous spectra, and in addition a slightly more general method of perturbation is considered. The Hamiltonian H of the perturbed systems is split up into three parts H0, H1, H2 (t), two of which can be chosen arbitrarily. The solutions of the perturbed problem can then be worked out in terms of the characteristic functions corresponding to the Hamiltonian H0 + H2 (T), where T is any arbitrary fixed time. In general, however, the series of perturbations does not converge, and different modes of splitting up the Hamiltonian will lead to different formal results. The perturbation theory does usually give the correct physical results, and it is therefore necessary to give some explanation of how this happens. In (I) the asymptotic nature of certain solutions was emphasised, but this does not extend to the more general systems treated here. It is suggested that the usual boundary conditions do not give an adequate description of any but the simplest atomic problems, and that more detailed restrictions, determined by the experimental conditions, ought to be substituted. As this is impossible in practice, an alternative method is to regard the motion as a perturbation on that Hamiltonian H0 + H2 (T) which most nearly corresponds to the experimental conditions. (For example, we may regard an electron as free or bound according as the experiment determines the number of free or bound electrons respectively, whereas in the usual theory the initial Hamiltonian is taken as fundamental.) This criterion, together with the initial conditions, suffices to fix the division of H into the three parts H0, H1, H2 (t) which at first were chosen arbitrarily. The formal solution can be worked out on this basis, and it is then assumed that this solution is asymptotic to the one which would be obtained if the full boundary conditions were used. This suggestion is in accordance with the fact that a hydrogen atom in an electric field gives rise not only to the usual Stark effect, but also to an ionisation effect. In § 2 the perturbation equation are derived in a slightly more general form than has previously been given. The theories of Born,* Dirac and Oppenheimer are particular cases of that given here, and are obtained by particular choices of H0, H1, H2 (t). To obtain Born’s theory we take H1 = 0, and for Oppenheimer’s we take H2 (t) = H2 (T) and T = 0. In Dirac’s theory we have H1 = 0, H2 (0) = 0 and T = 0. Each of these theories is appropriate for the solution of special problems, but the more general method of this paper is required for the full discussion of the perturbation theory.
We suggest a new perturbed form of the quantum potential and investigate the possible solutions of Schrodinger equation. The new form can be written as a finite or infinite continued fraction. a comparison has been given between the continued fractional potential and the non-perturbed potential. We suggest the validity of this continued fractional quantum form in some quantum systems. As the order of the continued fraction increases the difference between the perturbed and the ordinary potentials decreases. The physically acceptable solutions critically depend on the values of the continued fraction coefficients αi.
A perturbation series is derived for the Schr\"odinger equation where the perturbation is permitted to go to \ensuremath{\infty}. Such an asymptotic series can be obtained in a representation where the time evolution of the states is due to the unperturbed part of the Hamiltonian of the problem and the time evolution of the observables is determined by the perturbation, contrary to the interaction picture. The equivalence between the series given by such a picture, and an asymptotic perturbation scheme is given. The method is applied to a spin-1/2 particle in a two-component magnetic field, one component of which, considered as a perturbation, can be time varying. Choosing a constant perturbation we show the equivalence between the exact solution and the approximate one when a component of the magnetic field is much larger than the other. In this case the limit t\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty} cannot be taken, as mixed-secular terms appear in the asymptotic series. Taking a linear time-varying dependence for a component of the magnetic field, we get a nonanalytic asymptotic series.
A modified version of Rayleigh-Schr\"odinger (RS) perturbation theory, which has been developed previously, can dispense with the usual RS restriction that the unperturbed Hamiltonian should be diagonal in the chosen basis. This modified RS (MRS) perturbation scheme is discussed in some detail and extended to the degenerate case. The new degenerate MRS perturbation theory remains based upon a rearrangement of the unperturbed and perturbed parts of the Hamiltonian. Basically, an unperturbed Schr\"odinger equation is thereby produced which may be satisfied trivially and identically for an arbitrary Hamiltonian. The zeroth-order approximation to the energy remains a free parameter of the degenerate version of the MRS formalism. The explicit MRS expressions for the higher-order correction terms also preserve a strict analogy with their counterparts in the nondegenerate formalism. What is new is an enormous increase in the applicability and universality of the whole approach. Thus, a priori, the unperturbed Hamiltonian may now be chosen so as to have all of its larger off-diagonal elements much closer to those of the full original Hamiltonian than is permitted in the standard RS approach. This is a particular advantage of the whole MRS approach. By testing the method on two nontrivial model Hamiltonians, the method is demonstrated to have considerably improved convergence properties over the standard RS scheme, and at relatively little extra cost.
This report discusses two new ideas for using perturbation methods to solve the time-independent Schrödinger equation. The first concept begins with rewriting the perturbation equations in a form that is closely related to matrix diagonalization methods. That allows a simple, compact derivation of the standard (Rayleigh-Schrödinger) equations. But it also leads to a new iterative solution method that is not based on the usual power series expansion. The iterative method can also be used when the unperturbed system is two-fold degenerate. The second concept is quite different from the first but compatible with it. It is based on the fact that one can replace the true Hamiltonian with a synthetic Hamiltonian having the same eigenvalues. This approach allows one to cancel part of the perturbation and to reduce the size of the off-diagonal matrix elements, giving better convergence of the series. These methods are illustrated by application to three perturbed harmonic oscillator problems--a 1-D oscillator with a linear perturbation, a 1-D oscillator with a quartic perturbation, and a perturbed 2-D oscillator, which involves degenerate states. The iterative method and the synthetic Hamiltonian method are shown to give significantly better results than the standard method.