# WKB Lecture 1

This lecture introductes the basic principle behind the mathematics of the WKB approximation. The first file is a powerpoint file that introduces the history of the WKB approximation and qualitatively describes how things work. This was presented at the start of the lecture.

• Introductory Material (pdf | powerpoint)
• Mathematics of the WKB approximation including worked example for $$V(x)=-e^{2x}$$ (handout from the lecture). In the lecture the boxes were left blank to be completed. – This version can be found here.
– The notes with the boxes completed can be found here.
• Maple worksheet (right click and save as) for $$V(x)=-e^{2x}$$ – shows the analytic solution in terms of Bessel functions and the approximate solution from the WKB method.

## Assignment

The first assignment for this module is available here.

The solutions can be found here.

## Reading material for this lecture

M. H. Holmes – Introduction to Perturbation Methods, Springer-Verlag. Pages 161-165 (for version ISBN 0-387-94204-3).