Answer to Question #277574 in Physical Chemistry for Kyle

Question

The variational method provides an upper bound to the ground-state energy of a system. However, it may also be used to calculate first excited state energies if: (a) the trial function has the symmetry of the first excited state, which is different from the ground state. (b) the trial function has the boundary conditions of the first excited state, which are different from the ground state. (c) the trial function has the asymptotic behavers of the first excited state, which are different from the ground state. (d) the trial function has the minimum and maximum values of the first excited state, which are different from the ground state

Answer 1

(b) the trial function has the boundary conditions of the first excited state, which are different from the ground state.