Effect of the boundary conditions on the accuracy of perturbation theory Available to Purchase

The problems of a square well in quantum mechanics, a slab reactor in neutron diffusion theory, and a planar dielectric waveguide imply solving the same second‐order differential equation but with different boundary conditions. In order to study the influence of different boundary conditions on the accuracy of first‐ and second‐order perturbation theory, the above problems are solved both exactly and by perturbation methods for the case of three slabs. A numerical comparison shows that the simpler the boundary conditions are, the more accurate the results of perturbation theory become.