Kratzer’s molecular potential in quantum mechanics with a generalized uncertainty principle

Abstract

The Kratzer’s potential V(r)=g1/r2−g2/r is studied in quantum mechanics with a generalized uncertainty principle, which includes a minimal length (ΔX)min=ħ5β. In momentum representation, the Schrödinger equation is a generalized Heun’s differential equation, which reduces to a hypergeometric and to a Heun’s equations in special cases. We explicitly show that the presence of this finite length regularizes the potential in the range of the coupling constant g1 where the corresponding Hamiltonian is not self-adjoint. In coordinate space, we perturbatively derive an analytical expression for the bound states spectrum in the first order of the deformation parameter β. We qualitatively discuss the effect of the minimal length on the vibration–rotation energy levels of diatomic molecules, through the Kratzer interaction. By comparison with an experimental result of the hydrogen molecule, an upper bound for the minimal length is found to be of about 0.01 Å. We argue that the minimal length would have some physical importance in studying the spectra of such systems.