Use of the WKB method for obtaining energy eigenvalues

J. B. Krieger, M. L. Lewis, C. Rosenzweig

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

56 Scopus citations

Abstract

A simple, general method is derived for evaluating the second- and third-order WKB energy integrals by rewriting the integrals having nonintegrable singularities in terms of derivatives, with respect to the energy, of integrals having integrable singularities. As an example, it is shown that the higher-order WKB integrals vanish for the one-dimensional linear harmonic oscillator. A calculation of some eigenvalues using this method is made for potentials of the form V(x)=λx2y and the results are compared to the "exact" results obtained from a numerical integration of the Schrödinger equation. It is observed that inclusion of the third-order integral improves the accuracy of WKB eigenvalues.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2942-2945
Number of pages4
JournalThe Journal of Chemical Physics
Volume47
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 1967
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

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