We perform a systematic WKB expansion to all orders for a one-dimensional system with potential $V(x)=U_0/\cos^2{(αx)}$. We are able to sum the series to the exact energy spectrum. Then we show that at any finite order the error of the WKB approximation measured in the natural units of the mean energy level spacing does not go to zero when the quantum number goes to infinity. Therefore we make the general conclusion that the semiclassical approximations fail to predict the individual energy levels within a vanishing fraction of the mean energy level spacing.
We show that a recently developed semiclassical expansion for the eigenvalues of PT-symmetric oscillators of the form $V(x)=(ix)^{2N+1}+bix$ does not agree with an earlier WKB expression for $V(x)=-(ix)^{2N+1}$ the case $b=0$. The reason is due to the choice of different paths in the complex plane for the calculation of the WKB integrals. We compare the Stokes and anti-Stokes lines that apply to each case for the quintic oscillator and derive a general WKB expression that contains the two earlier ones.
We present an analytic calculation of the semiclassical electron-positron pair creation rate by time-dependent electrical fields. We use two methods, first the imaginary time method in the WKB-approximation and second the world-line instanton approach. The analytic tools for both methods are generalized to time-dependent electric fields with more than one component. For the WKB method an expansion of the momentum spectrum of produced pairs around the canonical momentum $\vec{P}=0$ is presented which simplifies the computation of the pair creation rate. We argue that the world-line instanton me…
Semiclassical methods provide important tools for approximating solutions in quantum mechanics. In several cases these methods are intriguingly exact rather than approximate, as has been shown by direct calculations on particular systems. In this paper we prove that the long-conjectured exactness of the supersymmetry-based semiclassical quantization condition for broken supersymmetry is a consequence of the additive shape invariance for the corresponding potentials.
We approximate given potentials by means of the specially introduced reference potentials. On the one hand their parameters may be easily found from the usual WKB integral for the given potential; on the other hand they allow a simple determination of the first correction to the usual quantization condition. Such reference potentials are introduced in special variables as some Pade approximants which lead usually to a very good results for various problems. Thus we raise the accuracy of the WKB method for a broad set of potentials without cumbersome calculations. Higher order corrections as we…
We develop a suitable technical algorithm to implement a separation of the Minisuperspace configurational variables into quasi-classical and purely quantum degrees of freedom, in the framework of a Polymer quantum Mechanics reformulation of the canonical dynamics. We then implement the obtained general scheme to the specific case of a Taub Universe, in the presence of a free massless scalar field. In particular, we identify the quasi-classical variables in the Universe volume and a suitable function of the scalar field, while the purely quantum degree of freedom corresponds to the Universe ani…
Recently, the Lorentzian path integral formulation using the Picard-Lefschetz theory has attracted much attention in quantum cosmology. In this paper, we analyze the tunneling amplitude in quantum mechanics by using the Lorentzian Picard-Lefschetz formulation and compare it with the WKB analysis of the conventional Schrödinger equation. We show that the Picard-Lefschetz Lorentzian formulation is consistent with the WKB approximation for wave-function and the Euclidean path integral formulation utilizing the solutions of the Euclidean constraint equation. We also consider some problems of this …
In this paper we study scattering of two-dimensional massless Dirac fermions by a potential that depends on a single Cartesian variable. Depending on the energy of the incoming particle and its angle of incidence, there are three different regimes of scattering. To find the reflection and transmission coefficients in these regimes, we apply the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB), also called semiclassical, approximation. We use the method of comparison equations to extend our prediction to nearly normal incidence, where the conventional WKB method should be modified due to the degeneracy of turni…
We demonstrate that the (s-wave) geometric spectrum of the Efimov energy levels in the unitary limit is generated by the radial motion of a primitive periodic orbit (and its harmonics) of the corresponding classical system. The action of the primitive orbit depends logarithmically on the energy. It is shown to be consistent with an inverse-squared radial potential with a lower cut-off radius. The lowest-order WKB quantization, including the Langer correction, is shown to reproduce the geometric scaling of the energy spectrum. The (WKB) mean-squared radii of the Efimov states scale geometricall…
We present a semiclassical quantization condition, i.e., quantum-classical correspondence, for steady states of nonadiabatic systems consisting of fast and slow degrees of freedom (DOFs) by extending Gutzwiller's trace formula to a nonadiabatic form. The quantum-classical correspondence indicates that a set of primitive hopping periodic orbits, which are invariant under time evolution in the phase space of the slow DOF, should be quantized. The semiclassical quantization is then applied to a simple nonadiabatic model and accurately reproduces exact quantum energy levels. In addition to the sem…
It has been recently realized that, in the case of polynomial potentials, the exact WKB method can be reformulated in terms of a system of TBA equations. In this paper we study this method in various examples. We develop a graphical procedure due to Toledo, which provides a fast and simple way to study the wall-crossing behavior of the TBA equations. When complemented with exact quantization conditions, the TBA equations can be used to solve spectral problems exactly in Quantum Mechanics. We compute the quantum corrections to the all-order WKB periods in many examples, as well as the exact spe…
We present a semiclassical analysis of the quantum propagator of a particle confined on one side by a steeply, monotonically rising potential. The models studied in detail have potentials proportional to $x^α$ for $x>0$; the limit $α\to\infty$ would reproduce a perfectly reflecting boundary, but at present we concentrate on the cases $α=1$ and 2, for which exact solutions in terms of well known functions are available for comparison. We classify the classical paths in this system by their qualitative nature and calculate the contributions of the various classes to the leading-order semiclassic…
By applying the WKB (Wentzel, Kramers, Brillouin) approximation, we analyse the interaction of the electric quadrupole moment of a neutral particle with radial electric fields produced by a non-uniform electric charge densities. Then, we show particular cases of this interaction where a discrete spectrum of energy can be achieved for the s-waves of the neutral particle.
The Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) perturbative series, a widely used technique for solving linear waves, is typically divergent and at best, asymptotic, thus impeding predictions beyond the first few leading-order effects. Here, we report a closed-form formula that exactly resums the perturbative WKB series to all-orders for two turning point problem. The formula is elegantly interpreted as the action evaluated using the product of spatially-varying wavenumber and a coefficient related to the wave transmissivity; unit transmissivity yields the Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization.
