A general formula for Rayleigh-Schroedinger perturbation energy utilizing a power series expansion of the quantum mechanical Hamiltonian

Perturbation theory has long been utilized by quantum chemists as a method for approximating solutions to the Schroedinger equation. Perturbation treatments represent a system`s energy as a power series in which each additional term further corrects the total energy; it is therefore convenient to have an explicit formula for the nth-order energy correction term. If all perturbations are collected into a single Hamiltonian operator, such a closed-form expression for the nth-order energy correction is well known; however, use of a single perturbed Hamiltonian often leads to divergent energy series, while superior convergence behavior is obtained by expanding the perturbed Hamiltonian in a power series. This report presents a closed-form expression for the nth-order energy correction obtained using Rayleigh-Schroedinger perturbation theory and a power series expansion of the Hamiltonian