Solving Schrödinger equation in semiclassical regime with highly oscillatory time-dependent potentials

Arieh Iserles, Karolina Kropielnicka, Pranav Singh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Schrödinger equations with time-dependent potentials are of central importance in quantum physics and theoretical chemistry, where they aid in the simulation and design of systems and processes at atomic and molecular scales. Numerical approximation of these equations is particularly difficult in the semiclassical regime because of the highly oscillatory nature of solution. Highly oscillatory potentials such as lasers compound these difficulties even further. Altogether, these effects render a large number of standard numerical methods less effective in this setting. In this paper we will develop a class of exponential splitting schemes that allow us to use large time steps in our schemes even in the presence of highly oscillatory potentials and solutions. These are derived by combining the advantages of integral-preserving simplified-commutator Magnus expansions with those of symmetric Zassenhaus splittings. The efficacy of these methods is demonstrated through 1D, 2D and 3D numerical examples.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)10
Number of pages2
JournalJournal of Computational Physics
Volume376
Early online date2 Oct 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2019

Keywords

  • Highly oscillatory potentials
  • Magnus expansion
  • Schrödinger equation
  • Semiclassical regime
  • Symmetric Zassenhaus splittings
  • Time dependent potentials

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Numerical Analysis
  • Modelling and Simulation
  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)
  • General Physics and Astronomy
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Computational Mathematics
  • Applied Mathematics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Solving Schrödinger equation in semiclassical regime with highly oscillatory time-dependent potentials'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this