As the first stage in a project aimed at finding exact bound-state solutions for the few-particle Schrodinger equation, some restricted two- and threebody systems are treated by Rayleigh-Schrddinger perturbation theory. Formal solutions for the perturbation equations are obtained by using standard techniques for solving differential equations. Particular attention is given to justifying the various boundary conditions, since the same conditions apply to formal solutions of the eigenvalue equations. It is shown that boundary conditions designed to preserve the Hermitian character of the Hamiltonian are sufficient to determine all parameters in the formal solutions. The procedure is demonstrated by application to a hydrogen atom perturbed by stationary point charges. Results are given for the ground and some excited states.
As the first stage in a project aimed at finding exact bound-state solutions for the few-particle Schrodinger equation, some restricted two- and threebody systems are treated by Rayleigh-Schrddinger perturbation theory. Formal solutions for the perturbation equations are obtained by using standard techniques for solving differential equations. Particular attention is given to justifying the various boundary conditions, since the same conditions apply to formal solutions of the eigenvalue equations. It is shown that boundary conditions designed to preserve the Hermitian character of the Hamiltonian are sufficient to determine all parameters in the formal solutions. The procedure is demonstrated by application to a hydrogen atom perturbed by stationary point charges. Results are given for the ground and some excited states.
Abstract As the first stage in a project aimed at finding exact bound-state solutions for the few-particle Schrödinger equation, some restricted two-and three- body systems are treated by Rayleigh–Schrödinger perturbation theory. Formal solutions for the perturbation equations are obtained by using standard techniques for solving differential equations. Particular attention is given to justifying the various boundary conditions, since the same conditions apply to formal solutions of the eigenvalue equations. It is shown that boundary conditions designed to preserve the Hermitian character of the Hamiltonian are sufficient to determine all parameters in the formal solutions. The procedure is demonstrated by application to a hydrogen atom perturbed by stationary point charges. Results are given for the ground and some excited states.
Exact solutions to the Schrödinger equation for realistic nanoscale systems are beyond reach, hence, different strategies for approximating the solutions are necessary. Perturbation theory relies on a “zero-order Hamiltonian” to express the desired eigenvalues and eigenvectors of “the full Hamiltonian.” We derive working equations for the Rayleigh–Schrödinger perturbation theory, and the validity of the approach is analyzed for a generic two-level system. Applications are given to atoms perturbed by point charges or static fields, and for electrons in quantum wells. An alternative strategy is the variation method, which replaces exact solutions by their projection on a reduced space of “trial functions,” varied to minimize the associated error. Particularly important is the method of linear variation, which can potentially converge to the exact Hamiltonian eigenstates. The mean-field approximation, commonly used for many-particle systems, is derived by optimizing a trial function in the form of product of single-particle functions.
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.
Recently developed simple approach for the exact/approximate solution of Schrodinger equations with constant/position-dependent mass, in which the potential is considered as in the perturbation theory, is shown to be equivalent to the one leading to the construction of exactly solvable potentials via the solution of second-order differential equations in terms of known special functions. The formalism in the former solves difficulties encountered in the latter in revealing the corrections explicitly to the unperturbed piece of the solutions whereas the other obviate cumbersome procedures used in the calculations of the former.
Rayleigh–Schrödinger perturbation theory is used to find energy and wavefunction corrections for a particle confined in a box with infinite walls. The resulting perturbation equations have simple, analytic solutions. The procedure for normalization of the wavefunction corrections is demonstrated, and the perturbation energies and normalized wavefunctions are shown to approach the exact values. The method is applied to both the ground state and first excited state and can become a valuable component of a student’s introduction to perturbation analysis.
Recently developed simple approach for the exact/approximate solution of Schrodinger equations with constant/position-dependent mass, in which the potential is considered as in the perturbation theory, is shown to be equivalent to the one leading to the construction of exactly solvable potentials via the solution of second-order differential equations in terms of known special functions. The formalism in the former solves difficulties encountered in the latter in revealing the corrections explicitly to the unperturbed piece of the solutions whereas the other obviate cumbersome procedures used in the calculations of the former.