Expansions in series of varying Laguerre polynomials and some applications to molecular potentials

Abstract

The expansion of a large class of functions in series of linearly varying Laguerre polynomials, i.e., Laguerre polynomials whose parameters are linear functions of the degree, is found by means of the hypergeometric functions approach. This expansion formula is then used to obtain the Brown–Carlitz generating function (which gives a characterization of the exponential function) and the connection formula for these polynomials. Finally, these results are employed to connect the bound states of the quantum–mechanical potentials of Morse and Pöschl–Teller, which are frequently used to describe molecular systems.