Numerical implementation of Einstein-Brillouin-Keller quantization for arbitrary potentials

The Einstein-Brillouin-Keller EBK quantization equation is used to determine the energy levels of a two-body system with an arbitrary central potential that allows for bound states. The treatment is based on the conservation laws and avoids both the Newtonian and Schrödinger differential equations. Because analytic solutions for the energy levels do not exist in general, the EBK condition is applied using the Newton-Raphson method and the radial probability density is computed. Potentials appropriate for a diatomic molecule are considered and the effect of the angular momentum on the radial distribution, the nature of the classical orbits, and the possibility of closed orbits is studied. © 2006 American Association of Physics Teachers. DOI: 10.1119/1.2192788