On two classes of perturbations: Role of signs of second-order Rayleigh-Schr\"odinger energy corrections

Abstract

We distinguish two extreme classes of perturbation problems depending on the signs of second-order energy corrections and argue why it is generally much more probable to obtain a negative value of the same for any state in the standard Rayleigh-Schr\"odinger perturbation theory. The classes are seen to differ in reproducing results of finite-dimensional matrix perturbations. A few related issues are also discussed, some of which are based on available analytical results.