Accuracy tests of the envelope theory

Abstract

The envelope theory is an easy-to-use approximation method to obtain eigensolutions for some quantum many-body systems, in particular in the domain of hadronic physics. Even if the solutions are reliable and an improvement procedure exists, the method can lack accuracy for some systems. In a previous work, two hypotheses were proposed to explain the low precision: the presence of a divergence in the potential or the lack of a variational character for peculiar interactions. In the present work, different systems are studied to test these hypotheses. These tests show that the presence of a divergence does indeed cause less accurate results, while the lack of a variational character reduces the impact of the improvement procedure.