An exact quantization rule for the bound states of the one-dimensional Schr{o}dinger equation is presented and is generalized to the three-dimensional Schr{o}dinger equation with a spherically symmetric potential.
An algebraic reformulation of the Bohr - Sommerfeld (BS) quantization rule is suggested and applied to the study of bound states in one-dimensional quantum wells. The energies obtained with the present quantization rule are compared to those obtained with the usual BS and WKB quantization rules and with the exact solution of the Schrödinger equation. We find that, in diverse cases of physical interest in molecular physics, the present quantization rule not only yields a good approximation to the exact solution of the Schrödinger equation, but yields more precise energies than those obtained with the usual BS and/or WKB quantization rules. Among the examples considered numerically are the Poeschl - Teller potential and several anharmonic oscillator potentials, which simulate molecular vibrational spectra and the problem of an isolated quantum well structure subject to an external electric field.
The method of Froman and Froman for proving exact quantization conditions is reviewed. This formalism, unlike the usual WKB approximation to which it bears a close resemblance, requires consideration of the behavior of the potential everywhere it is defined. This approach leads to proofs that certain quantization conditions are exact without having to compare the results to solutions of the Schrödinger equation obtained by other means. Using the formalism, we prove the correctness of all previously known exact quantization rules for the one-dimensional and radial cases. Furthermore, it is shown that exact quantization rules can be proved for two other potentials. For one of these, no analytic solutions to the Schrödinger equation are known. For the latter case, the proof is checked by numerical integration of the Schrödinger equation for a special case.