Physical Review A
Two-step approach to the Morse-potential derivation of the energy spectrum and its application to Frank-Condon factors
Chen‐Shiung Hsue
Abstract
A recently proposed two-step method is applied to the quantum-mechanical problem of one-dimensional Morse potential. The method is composed of two steps. In the first step a variational principle is applied to a generalized coherent-state ansatz which in the present case is nothing but a Gaussian with a shifted origin and modified frequency. Correlation corrections are then added in the second step by standard perburbation. The ``rigorous formula'' for the energy spectrum is derived by a lowest-order perturbation calculation. As a severe test of the theory, we have applied the method to calculate the Frank-Condon factors. The agreement with numerical calculation is excellent over eight orders of magnitude.