Radial Schrödinger equation: The spectral problem (Q5941946)

The authors use an approximation method for computing the eigenvalues of a radial Schrödinger operator with either polynomial potential or potentials of the form \(-V_0r^{-1}e^{-r/a}+Zr^{-1}+Ar^{-2}\) with \(V_0>0\). It consists in finding an equation for the Laplace transform of \(\phi(r)r^{\sigma-1}\), where \(\phi\) is the eigenfunction and \(\sigma\) is chosen adequately. One then searches for an expansion of the transform in powers of a homographic function of the dual variable of \(r\); this produces an infinite system for the coefficients, that is then truncated. No proof of the correctness of the method is given, but the authors report good numerical agreement for the first few eigenvalues in exactly solvable cases.