chapter 14
Time-Independent Perturbation Theory
Perturbation theory is a technique used to solve problems involving Hamiltonians that may be too difficult to solve directly but where the Hamiltonian is only slightly different from one for a system with a known solution. That is, the new Hamiltonian is a slight “perturbation” of the one that we know well. A few examples include
• A square well with a Dirac delta function in the center
• A charged oscillator in a weak electric field
• The hydrogen atom in a weak electric field (the “Stark” effect)
• The Zeeman effect
When considering the application of perturbation theory, we start with the ...
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