Exactly solvable piecewise analytic double well potential $V_{D}(x)=min[(x+d)^2,(x-d)^2]$ and its dual single well potential $V_{S}(x)=max[(x+d)^2,(x-d)^2]$

Abstract

By putting two harmonic oscillator potential $x^2$ side by side with a separation $2d$, two exactly solvable piecewise analytic quantum systems with a free parameter $d>0$ are obtained. Due to the mirror symmetry, their eigenvalues $E$ for the even and odd parity sectors are determined exactly as the zeros of certain combinations of the confluent hypergeometric function ${}_1F_1$ of $d$ and $E$, which are common to $V_{D}$ and $V_{S}$ but in two different branches. The eigenfunctions are the piecewise square integrable combinations of ${}_1F_1$, the so called $U$ functions. By comparing the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions for various values of the separation $d$, vivid pictures unfold showing the tunneling effects between the two wells.