Fast multiresolution methods for density functional theory in nuclear physics

Abstract

We describe a fast real-analysis based O(N) algorithm based on multiresolution analysis and low separation rank approximation of functions and operators for solving the Schrödinger and Lippman-Schwinger equations in 3-D with spin-orbit potential to high precision for bound states. Each of the operators and wavefunctions has its own structure of refinement to achieve and guarantee the desired finite precision. To our knowledge, this is the first time such adaptive methods have been used in computational physics, even in 1-D. Accurate solutions for each of the wavefunctions are obtained for a sample test problem. Spin orbit potentials commonly occur in the simulations of semiconductors, quantum chemistry, molecular electronics and nuclear physics. We compare our results with those obtained by direct diagonalization using the Hermite basis and the spline basis with an example from nuclear structure theory.