New approximation to the bound states of Schroedinger operators with coulomb interaction

In this work, the authors present a mathematical formulation of the physical fact that the bound states of a quantum system confined into a box Ω (with impenetrable walls) are similar to those of the unconfined system, if the box Ω is sufficiently large, and it is shown how the bound states of atomic and molecular Hamiltonians can be approximated by those of the system confined for a box Ω large enough (Dirichlet eigenproblem in Ω). Thus, a method for computing bound states is obtained which has the advantage of reducing the problem to the case of compact operators. This implies that a broad class of numerical and analytic techniques used for solving the Dirichlet problem, may be applied in full strength to obtain accurate computations of energy levels, wave functions, and other physical properties of interest