Abstract
The method of separation of variables applied to the natural Hamilton–Jacobi equation $${\frac{1}{2}}$$ ∑(∂u/∂q i )2+V(q)=E consists of finding new curvilinear coordinates x i (q) in which the transformed equation admits a complete separated solution u(x)=∑u (i)(x i ;α). For a potential V(q) given in Cartesian coordinates, the main difficulty is to decide if such a transformation x(q) exists and to determine it explicitly. Surprisingly, this nonlinear problem has a complete algorithmic solution, which we present here. It is based on recursive use of the Bertrand–Darboux equations, which are linear second order partial differential equations with undetermined coefficients. The result applies to the Helmholtz (stationary Schrodinger) equation as well.
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