The Born–Oppenheimer approximation, which is central to the physics and chemistry of molecules and solids, is illustrated by a one-dimensional toy model that is easily solved.

1.
M.
Born
and
J. R.
Oppenheimer
, “
Zur Quantentheorie der Molekein
,”
Ann. Phys. (Leipzig)
84
,
457
484
(
1927
).
2.
W.
Heitler
and
F.
London
, “
Interaction of neutral atoms and homopolar binding according to the quantum mechanics
,”
Z. Phys.
44
,
455
472
(
1927
).
3.
E. U.
Condon
, “
The Franck-Condon principle and related topics
,”
Am. J. Phys.
15
,
365
374
(
1947
).
4.
A. S. Davidov, Quantum Mechanics (Pergamon, Oxford, 1965), pp. 472–478.
5.
H. A. Bethe and R. Jackiw, Intermediate Quantum Mechanics (Addison–Wesley, Reading, MA, 1997), 3rd ed., pp. 179–189.
6.
M. A. Morrison, T. L. Estle, and N. S. Lane, Quantum States of Atoms, Molecules and Solids (Prentice–Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1976), pp. 259–300.
This content is only available via PDF.
AAPT members receive access to the American Journal of Physics and The Physics Teacher as a member benefit. To learn more about this member benefit and becoming an AAPT member, visit the Joining AAPT page.