From Heun Class Equations to Painlevé Equations

In the first part of our paper we discuss linear 2nd order differential equations in the complex domain, especially Heun class equations, that is, the Heun equation and its confluent cases. The second part of our paper is devoted to Painlevé I-VI equations. Our philosophy is to treat these families of equations in a unified way. This philosophy works especially well for Heun class equations. We discuss its classification into 5 supertypes, subdivided into 10 types (not counting trivial cases). We also introduce in a unified way deformed Heun class equations, which contain an additional nonlogarithmic singularity. We show that there is a direct relationship between deformed Heun class equations and all Painlevé equations. In particular, Painlevé equations can be also divided into 5 supertypes, and subdivided into 10 types. This relationship is not so easy to describe in a completely unified way, because the choice of the ''time variable'' may depend on the type. We describe unified treatments for several possible ''time variables''.

PT -Symmetric Potentials from the Confluent Heun Equation

We derive exactly solvable potentials from the formal solutions of the confluent Heun equation and determine conditions under which the potentials possess PT symmetry. We point out that for the implementation of PT symmetry, the symmetrical canonical form of the Heun equation is more suitable than its non-symmetrical canonical form. The potentials identified in this construction depend on twelve parameters, of which three contribute to scaling and shifting the energy and the coordinate. Five parameters control the z(x) function that detemines the variable transformation taking the Heun equation into the one-dimensional Schrödinger equation, while four parameters play the role of the coupling coefficients of four independently tunable potential terms. The potentials obtained this way contain Natanzon-class potentials as special cases. Comparison with the results of an earlier study based on potentials obtained from the non-symmetrical canonical form of the confluent Heun equation is also presented. While the explicit general solutions of the confluent Heun equation are not available, the results are instructive in identifying which potentials can be obtained from this equation and under which conditions they exhibit PT symmetry, either unbroken or broken.

The Rabi problem with elliptical polarization

We consider the solution of the equation of motion of a classical/quantum spin subject to a monochromatical, elliptically polarized external field. The classical Rabi problem can be reduced to third-order differential equations with polynomial coefficients and hence solved in terms of power series in close analogy to the confluent Heun equation occurring for linear polarization. Application of Floquet theory yields physically interesting quantities like the quasienergy as a function of the problem’s parameters and expressions for the Bloch–Siegert shift of resonance frequencies. Various limit cases are thoroughly investigated.