Perturbation Theory for Time-Dependent Point Interactions with Discrete Spectrum

Abstract:We develop a perturbative framework for time-dependent point interactions in quantum systems with purely discrete unperturbed spectrum. In two and three dimensions the point interaction is described through the renormalized resolvent obtained from heat-kernel regularization, while in one dimension the diagonal Green function is finite and no renormalization is required. Time dependence is introduced either through the interaction parameter or through the motion of the support point. In both cases we expand the non-autonomous Hamiltonian in the spectral basis of the corresponding static point-interaction problem and derive the first- and second-order pole shifts, projection corrections, and transition amplitudes. We also describe how finite degeneracies are treated by separating the coupled point-interaction direction from the unaffected orthogonal subspace in each degenerate eigenspace. The method is illustrated by explicit examples: point interactions with time-dependent coupling, harmonic oscillators perturbed by moving point interactions, and a particle on a sphere with a moving interaction center. We also discuss the one-dimensional harmonic oscillator with a moving delta potential, showing that in the non-renormalized case the present formulation reduces to the standard time-dependent perturbation theory. Finally, an exactly solvable delta center moving with constant velocity on a circle is used as a discrete-spectrum example for the local moving-center expansion and its velocity-dependent dynamical corrections.

arXiv:2608.08108 [math-ph]

(or arXiv:2608.08108v2 [math-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.08108 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aop.2026.170747 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources

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