The Virial Theorem and the Ground State Problem in Polaron Theory

Abstract

The virial theorem for the translation-invariant theory of a polaron [3] is discussed. It is shown that, in [3], Tulub made a nonoptimal choice of variational parameters in the strong-coupling limit, which led to the violation of the virial relations. The introduction of an additional variational parameter to the test function reduces the polaron energy and makes it possible to satisfy the relations of the virial theorem for a strong-coupling polaron (the Pekar 1 : 2 : 3 : 4 theorem).