ABSTRACT
An earlier paper by the same title recast the treatment of an electron in the field of an ionic core [quantum-defect theory (QDT)] into a form largely independent of the character of the long-range field. Analytical complexities and limitations of that paper are eliminated here by further reformulation. Qualitative aspects are highlighted. A WKB analysis interprets the QDT parameters as phase integrals over certain ranges of the radial coordinate; the limitations of the WKB analysis are then removed through the Milne approach to wave equations. The QDT analysis is connected to Jost’s formulation of scattering, extended to long-range fields by explicit treatment of the relevant singularities. The effects of interactions confined to an internal many-body core are represented by QDT parameters wholly independent of the external region.
