Analytic Model for the Energy Spectrum of the Anharmonic Oscillator

Abstract: In a recent work we have proposed an original analytic expression for the partition function of the quartic oscillator. This partition function, which has a simple and compact form with {\it no adjustable parameters}, reproduces some key mathematical properties of the exact partition function and provides free energies accurate to a few percent over a wide range of temperatures and coupling constants. In this work, we present the derivation of the energy spectrum of this model. We also generalize our previous study limited to the quartic oscillator to the case of a general anharmonic oscillator. Numerical application for a potential of the form $V(x)=\frac{\omega^2}{2} x^2 + g x^{2m}$ show that the energy levels are obtained with a relative error of about a few percent, a precision which we consider to be quite satisfactory given the simplicity of the model, the absence of adjustable parameters, and the negligible computational cost.