Progressive approximation of bound states by finite series of square-integrable functions

Abstract

We use the “tridiagonal representation approach” to solve the time-independent Schrödinger equation for bound states in a basis set of finite size. We obtain two classes of solutions written as a finite series of square integrable functions that support a tridiagonal matrix representation of the wave operator. The differential wave equation becomes an algebraic three-term recursion relation for the expansion coefficients of the series, which is solved in terms of finite polynomials in the energy and/or potential parameters. These orthogonal polynomials contain all physical information about the system. The basis elements in configuration space are written in terms of either the Romanovski–Bessel polynomial or the Romanovski–Jacobi polynomial. The maximum degree of both polynomials is limited by the polynomial parameter(s). This makes the size of the basis set finite but sufficient to give a very good approximation of the bound state wavefunctions that improves with an increase in the basis size.