On Perturbation Theory for the Sturm-Liouville Problem with Variable Coefficients

Vladimir Kalitvianski

Published 2009-06-18, updated 2018-03-05Version 8

In this article I study different possibilities of analytically solving the Sturm-Liouville problem with variable coefficients of sufficiently arbitrary behavior with help of perturbation theory. I show how the problem can be reformulated in order to eliminate big (or divergent) corrections. I obtain correct formulas in case of smooth as well as in case of step-wise (piece-constant) coefficients. I build a simple but very accurate analytical formula for calculating the lowest eigenvalue. I advance also new boundary conditions for obtaining more precise initial approximations. I demonstrate how one can optimize the PT calculation with choosing better initial approximations and thus diminishing the perturbative corrections. Dressing, Rebuilding, and Renormalizations are discussed in Appendices 4 and 5.