We ’’solve’’ the Schrödinger equation for a system subject to random pulses, and show how to compute ensemble averages of observables or their Laplace transforms.
A new method for solving the Schrödinger equation of a particle moving in one dimension in a given static potential is presented in this paper. We start from the observation that the density matrix corresponds to a Laplace transform of Green's function, and satisfies a diffusion-type equation which may be regarded as representing a certain limit of a discrete Markoffian random walk process. Our method of solving the Schrödinger equation is to divide the space occupied by the system into non-overlapping regions, in each of which the Schrödinger equation can be solved. We then introduce a path concept so as to synthesize the solutions for the various regions and thereby formulate the one-particle Green's function. As an application of this formulation, the energy bands of a one-dimensional infinite system are treated. The condition for the existence of impurity band is derived, which qualitatively supports Anderson's theory on the absence of diffusion in certain random lattices.
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.