Separation of Variables and Exactly Soluble Time-Dependent Potentials in Quantum Mechanics

Abstract

We use separation of variables as a tool to identify and to analyze exactly soluble time-dependent quantum mechanical potentials. By considering the most general possible time-dependent re-definition of the spatial coordinate, as well as general transformations on the wavefunctions, we show that separation of variables applies and exact solubility occurs only in a very restricted class of time-dependent models. We consider the formal structure underlying our findings, and the relationship between our results and other work on time-dependent potentials. As an application of our methods, we apply our results to the calculations of propagators.