Valleys in Quantum Mechanics

Abstract

Conventionally, perturbative and non-perturbative calculations are performed independently. In this paper, valleys in the configuration space in quantum mechanics are investigated as a way to treat them in a unified manner. All the known results of the interplay of them are reproduced naturally. The prescription for separating the non-perturbative contribution from the perturbative is given in terms of the analytic continuation of the valley parameter. Our method is illustrated on a new series of examples with the asymmetric double-well potential. We obtain the non-perturbative part explicitly, which leads to the prediction of the large order behavior of the perturbative series. We calculate the first 200 perturbative coefficients for a wide range of parameters and confirm the agreement with the prediction of the valley method.

13 pages, 4 eps figures, LaTeX, gzipped tar file