Abstract:
For a class of singular potentials, including the Coulomb potential and
V(x) = g/x^2 with the coefficient g in a certain range, the corresponding
Schrodinger operator is not automatically self-adjoint on its natural
domain. Such operators admit more than one self-adjoint domain, and the
spectrum and all physical consequences depend seriously on the self-adjoint
version chosen. The talk discusses how the self-adjoint domains can be
identified in terms of a boundary condition for the asymptotic behaviour of
the wave functions around the singularity, and what physical differences
emerge for different self-adjoint versions of the Hamiltonian.