Fall of Quantum Particle to the Center: Exact solution

Abstract: A fall of a particle to the center of a singular potential is one of a few fundamental problems of quantum mechanics. Nonetheless, its solution is not complete yet. The known results just indicate that if the singularity of the potential is strong enough, the spectrum of the Schrodinger equation is not bounded from below. However, the wave functions of the problem do not admit the limiting transition to the ground state. Therefore, the unboundedness of the spectrum is only a necessary condition. To prove that a quantum particle indeed can fall to the center, a wave function describing the fall should be obtained explicitly. This is done in the present paper. Specifically, an exact solution of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation corresponding to the fall is obtained and analyzed. A law for the collapse of the region of the wave function localization to a single point is obtained explicitly. It is shown that the known necessary conditions for the particle to fall simultaneously are sufficient.

mathematical physicsanalysis of PDEsclassical analysis and ODEsdynamical systemsnumerical analysisexactly solvable and integrable systemsfluid dynamics

Audience: researchers in the topic

Mathematical models and integration methods