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arXiv:2512.09041

Quantum bootstrap for central potentials

Scott Lawrence, Brian McPeak

quant-phhep-lathep-thSubmitted Dec 9, 2025• Announced Dec 11, 2025
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Abstract

We study the quantum-mechanical bootstrap as it applies to the bound states of several central potentials in three dimensions. As part of this effort, we show how the bootstrap approach may be applied to ``non-algebraic'' potentials, such as the Yukawa potential (which asymptotically decays as an exponential) and a Gaussian potential. We additionally review the bootstrap of the Coulomb potential, demonstrate a high-precision bootstrap of the Cornell potential, and study conformal quantum mechanics. These results further recommend the bootstrap as a numerical method for high-precision calculations of ground-state physics, where applicable: for example, we are able to determine the critical coupling in the Cornell potential to better than one part in $10^7$, the most precise determination to date. Lower bounds on energies are also of high precision, occasionally one part in greater than $10^8$. Finally, we discuss the circumstances under which we are able to obtain meaningful upper bounds on ground-state energies.

Comments
16 pages, 4 figures

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We study the quantum-mechanical bootstrap as it applies to the bound states of several central potentials in three dimensions. As part of this effort, we show how the bootstrap approach may be applied to ``non-algebraic'' potentials, such as the Yukawa potential (which asymptotically decays as an exponential) and a Gaussian potential. We additionally review the bootstrap of the Coulomb potential, demonstrate a high-precision bootstrap of the Cornell potential, and study conformal quantum mechanics. These results further recommend the bootstrap as a numerical method for high-precision calculations of ground-state physics, where applicable: for example, we are able to determine the critical coupling in the Cornell potential to better than one part in 10710^7107, the most precise determination to date. Lower bounds on energies are also of high precision, occasionally one part in greater than 10810^8108. Finally, we discuss the circumstances under which we are able to obtain meaningful upper bounds on ground-state energies.
This paper explores the quantum bootstrap method, a promising numerical approach rooted in self-consistency conditions, and its application in microcanonical ensembles. Initially developed in the 1960s and ’70s, the bootstrap technique has found applications in various fields, including quantum mechanics, lattice theory, conformal field theory, and matrix models. While extensively studied in quantum mechanics, this paper introduces a classical correspondence to the quantum bootstrap method, expanding its applicability to microcanonical ensembles. The study incorporates a novel approach, demonstrating stronger constraints by integrating additional information in phase space. Numerical examples, including the double well potential, harmonic oscillator, Coulomb potential, and non-relativistic Toda model, illustrate the method’s effectiveness in resolving unphysical energy regions and improving computational precision. These results highlight its potential as a powerful tool in computational physics and quantum computing.
A numerical bootstrap method is proposed to provide rigorous and nontrivial bounds in general quantum many-body systems with locality. In particular, lower bounds on ground state energies of local lattice systems are obtained by imposing positivity constraints on certain operator expectation values. Complemented with variational upper bounds, ground state observables are constrained to be within a narrow range. The method is demonstrated with the Hubbard model in one and two dimensions, and bounds on ground state double occupancy and magnetization are discussed.
The study of conformal symmetry is motivated through an example in statistical mechanics and then rigorously developed in quantum field theories in general spatial dimensions.In particular, primary fields are introduced as the fundamental objects of such theories and then studied in the formalism of radial quantization.The implications of conformal invariance on the functional form of correlation functions are studied in detail.Conformal blocks are defined and various approaches to their analytical and numerical calculation are presented with a special emphasis on the one-dimensional case.Building on these preliminaries, a modern formulation of the conformal bootstrap program and its various extensions are discussed.Examples are given in which bounds on the scaling dimensions in a one-dimensional theory are derived numerically.Using these results I motivate the technique of using the extremal functional bootstrap which I then develop in more detail.Many technical details are discussed and examples shown.After a brief discussion of conformal field theories with a boundary I apply numerical methods to find constraints on the spectrum of the 3D Ising model.Another application is presented in which I study the 4-point function on the boundary of a particular theory in Anti-de-Sitter space in order to approximate the mass spectrum of the theory.
The study of conformal symmetry is motivated through an example in statistical mechanics and then rigorously developed in quantum field theories in general spatial dimensions. In particular, primary fields are introduced as the fundamental objects of such theories and then studied in the formalism of radial quantization. The implications of conformal invariance on the functional form of correlation functions are studied in detail. Conformal blocks are defined and various approaches to their analytical and numerical calculation are presented with a special emphasis on the one-dimensional case. Building on these preliminaries, a modern formulation of the conformal bootstrap program and its various extensions are discussed. Examples are given in which bounds on the scaling dimensions in a one-dimensional theory are derived numerically. Using these results I motivate the technique of using the extremal functional bootstrap which I then develop in more detail. Many technical details are discussed and examples shown. After a brief discussion of conformal field theories with a boundary I apply numerical methods to find constraints on the spectrum of the 3D Ising model. Another application is presented in which I study the 4-point function on the boundary of a particular theory in Anti-de-Sitter space in order to approximate the mass spectrum of the theory.
We study the ground state energy and the critical screening parameter of the Yukawa potential in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. After a short review of the existing literature on these quantities, we apply fifth-order perturbation theory to the calculation of the ground state energy, using the exact solutions of the Coulomb potential together with a cutoff on the principal number summations. We also perform a variational calculation of the ground state energy using a Coulomb-like radial wave function and the exact solution of the corresponding minimization condition. For not too large values of the screening parameter, close agreement is found between the perturbative and variational results. For the critical screening parameter, we devise a novel method that permits us to determine it to 10 digits. This is the most precise calculation of this quantity to date, and allows us to resolve some discrepancies between previous results.
Abstract The range of motion of a particle with certain energy E confined in a potential is determined from the energy conservation law in classical mechanics. The counterpart of this question in quantum mechanics can be regarded as what is the possible range of expectation values of the position operator 〈x〉 of a particle that satisfies E = 〈H〉. This range depends on the state of the particle, but the universal upper and lower bounds, which are independent of the state, must exist. In this study, we show that these bounds can be derived by using the bootstrap method. We also point out that the bootstrap method can be regarded as a generalization of the uncertainty relations, meaning that the bounds are determined by the uncertainty relations in a broad sense. Furthermore, the bounds on possible expectation values of various quantities other than position can be determined in the same way. However, in the case of multiple identical particles (bosons and fermions), we find some difficulty in the bootstrap method. Because of this issue, the predictive power of the bootstrap method in multi-particle systems is limited in the derivation of observables including energy eigenstates. In addition, we argue an application of the bootstrap method to thermal equilibrium states. We find serious issues that temperature and entropy cannot be handled. Although we have these issues, we can derive some quantities in micro-canonical ensembles of integrable systems governed by generalized Gibbs ensembles.