Towards Nonperturbative Solution of Quantum Dynamics : A Hamiltonian Mean Field Approximation Scheme with Perturbation Theory for Arbitray Strength of Interaction

TL;DR

This paper presents a nonperturbative approximation scheme for quantum dynamics that can handle arbitrary interaction strengths, combining an exactly solvable input Hamiltonian with a self-consistent feedback mechanism and a novel perturbation method.

Contribution

The authors introduce NGAS, a flexible nonperturbative scheme that improves systematically via mean field perturbation theory, applicable to various quantum systems including field theories.

Findings

Accurately describes anharmonic oscillators across coupling strengths.

Aligns with Gaussian effective potential in quantum field theory.

Outperforms standard perturbation theory in ground-state energy calculations.

Abstract

We introduce a non perturbative general approximation scheme (NGAS) that can handle interactions of any strength in quantum theory. This approach starts with an input Hamiltonian that can be solved exactly. The interaction effects are then built into this Hamiltonian through nonlinear feedback enforced by self consistency conditions. While the method itself is nonperturbative it can be systematically improved using a new perturbation method called 'mean field perturbation theory' which does not involve power series expansion in any small parameter. We put this scheme to the test on one dimensional anharmonic interactions using the harmonic approximation. The results are consistently accurate across various cases including quartic, sextic, and octic anharmonic oscillators, as well as the quartic double well oscillator (QDWO) even when the coupling strength varies widely. The flexibility of the method is demonstrated when we swap the input Hamiltonian for that of an infinite square well and still achieve comparable accuracy. When applied to the {\lambda}{\phi}4 quantum field theory this approach aligns with the Gaussian effective potential method under the harmonic approximation. Beyond that it reveals the condensate structure of the effective vacuum and highlights the instability of the perturbative ground state. Notably, our ground-state energy results for the QDWO stand in stark contrast to those from standard perturbation theory where Borel summation fails regardless of coupling strength.