Cauchy problem for degenerating linear differential equations and averaging of approximating regularizations (Q291238)

The paper addresses possibilities of regularization of an ill-posed initial-value problem for the linear (quantum-mechanical) Schrödinger equation, which implies that the usual conditions securing the existence of the solution of the Cauchy problem do not hold. In particular, this may happen when the effective mass in the Schrödinger equation is a function of the coordinate, vanishing at some point(s). To this end, different regularizations of the problem are introduced which restore the existence of the solution, and then a possibility of defining a transition back to the original Schrödinger equation, which keeps the existence of the so defined regularized solution. In particular, the regularization by means of adding viscosity to the Schrödinger equation, i.e., as a matter of fact, replacing it by the corresponding Fokker-Planck equation, is studied in detail. In the case when the regularization does not allow one to restore the missing solution to the original Schrödinger equation, it is concluded that the non-convergent iterations demonstrate random behavior.