Exact and approximate expressions for the period

of anharmonic oscillators

Jeremy Miranda

Chennai Mathematical Institute

6th March2018
Introduction
The purpose of this presentation is the discussion of the exact and
approximate calculation of the period of a particle that moves in
one dimension under the effect of an anharmonic potential.
Consider a particle of mass m moving in one dimension under a
potential–energy function V (x). Without loss of generality we
assume that V (x) has a minimum at x = 0; more precisely, we
assume that V (0) = 0, V 0 (0) = 0, and V 00 (x) > 0.From the
equation of motion
mẍ = −V 0 (x)
we easily obtain an integral of the motion

mẋ 2
E= + V (x)
2
which is the total energy. The motion of the particle is restricted
to the interval x− < x < x+ , where the turning points x± satisfy V
(x±) = E; that is to say, ẋ = 0 at those points.
It is well–known that the period of the motion is given by
I √ Z x+ dx
T = dt = 2m p
x− E − V (x)

from which we obtain the frequency Ω = 2π T . We can simplify the

equations of motion by the introduction of a dimensionless time
E
= ωo τ , where ωo is an arbitrary frequency. If we define E = mω 2
o

U(x) = Vmω
(x)
2 then we obtain the equations of motion of a particle;
o
for example:
ẋ 2
E= + U(x)
2
and √ Z x
2 +
dx
T = p
ωo x− E − U(x)
.
THE MAIN INTEGRAL
It follows from the discussion above that the period is proportional
to an integral of the form
Z x+
dx
I = p
x− Q(x)

where Q(x) exhibits simple zeros at x− and x+ and is positive

definite for all x− < x < x+ . That is to say, we can write

Q(x) = (x+ − x)(x − x− )R(x)

where R(x) > 0 for all x− < x < x+ . The reason for rewriting our
problem in this somewhat abstract way is that the integral applies
to problems other than the period of a motion in one dimension.
We will mention some examples later on. In order to develop
suitable exact and approximate expressions for the integral we
2
define the reference function Q0 (x) = ω2 (x+ − x)(x − x− ) that
satisfies the appropriate boundary conditions at the turning points.
It is clear that Qo (x) is the function that would appear in the
treatment of a harmonic oscillator. Then we rewrite the integral as
Z x+
dx
I = p p
x− Qo (x) 1 + ∆(x)

where
Q(x) − Qo (x) 2R(x) − ω 2
∆(x) = =
Qo (x) ω2
.
The change of variables x = x+ +x
2
−
+ x+ −x
2
−
cos(θ) makes the
integral much simpler:
√ Z π
2 dθ
I = p
ω 0 1 + ∆(θ)

. This equation leads to an exact expression for the period, which

in most cases one has to calculate numerically.In order to derive
simple analytical formulas we expand
 ∞  −1 
1 X
p = 2 ∆(θ)j
1 + ∆(θ) j
j=0

Notice that this series converges for all x such that |∆(θ)| < 1. We
thus obtain a series for the integral
∞
X
I = Ij
j=0
√  −1  Z π
2 2
Ij = ∆(θ)j dθ
ω j 0
In this way we can derive approximate expressions for the integral
by means of the partial sums:
N
X
I (N) = Ij
j=0
THE DUFFING OSCILLATOR
The potential–energy function

x2 x4
U(x) = +λ
2 4
gives rise to the Duffing oscillator. Since it is parity invariant
(U(−x) = U(x)) then x+ = −x− = A is the amplitude of the
oscillations. According to the general discussion of the preceding
section, it follows from The potential–energy function gives rise to
the Duffing oscillator. Since it is parity invariant (U(−x) = U(x))
then x+ = −x− = A is the amplitude of the oscillations. According
to the general discussion of the preceding section, it follows from

A2 − x 2 A2 + x 2
Q(x) = E − U(x) = (1 + λ( ))
2 2
1 A2 + x 2
R(x) = ( + λ( ))
2 4
 2 2
1 + λA2 − ω 2 − λA sin
2
(θ)
∆(θ) =
ω2
where we have substituted x = Acos(θ) . We conclude that the
period depends on the dimensionless parameter ρ = λA2 If we
choose ω 2 = 1 + ρ then we obtain an already known suitable
compact expression for the integral
√ Z π
2 dθ
I =√ p
1+ρ 0 1 − εsin2 (θ)
ρ
ε= 2ρ+2 This equation yields the series
√ ∞  2
2π X −1
I =√ 2 εj
1+ρ j
j=0

that converges for all |ε| < 1; that is to say, for all
ρ > −2/3or ρ < −2.
 √
if λ < 0 then choosing ω as 1 + ρ wont converge for all possibles
values of Energy consistent with periodic motion because the
energy takes value from 0 to −1 −2
4λ but since ρ > 3 it only
converges for energy values form 0 to 9λ which is less than −1
−2
4λ
Can we improve this approach?. The answer is ”yes ” as we will
see below. Let RM and Rm be the maximum and minimum values
of R(x) in the interval [x− , x+ ] and ∆M and ∆m the corresponding
values of ∆(x). Since R(x) is positive definite we know that
RM > R(x) > Rm > 0. If we choose the value of the adjustable
parameter ! so that ∆M = -∆m we obtain

ωb 2 = RM + Rm
2R(x) − RM − Rm
∆b =
RM + Rm
The subscript b indicates that this particular value of ωb
”balances” the maximum and minimum values of ∆(x). Notice
(RM −Rm )
that |∆(x)| < 1 for all x− 6 x 6 x+ because ∆M = (R M +Rm )
< 1.
For the particular case of the Duffing oscillator we have
Rm = R(0) = 12 + ρ4 and RM = R(±A) = 12 + ρ2 so that
 4 + 3ρ
ωb2 =
4
ρ
∆b = cos(2θ)
4 + 3ρ
Then the Integral becomes
√ Z π
2 2 d(θ) ρ
I =√ p ,ε =
4 + 3ρ 0 1 + εcos(2θ) 4 + 3ρ
then this gives rise to the series
√ ∞  −1  −1 
2 2π X
I =√ (−1)j 2 2 ε2j
4 + 3ρ j 2j
j=0

which converges for all |ε| < 1; that is to say, for all ρ > −1 or
ρ < −2. In this way we may obtain simple analytical expressions
for the period valid for all values of the energy consistent with
periodic motion. And the Time period is given by
√
2I
T =
ωo
CONCLUSION

In this paper we present a straightforward systematic procedure for

constructing exact and approximate expressions for the period of
anharmonic oscillators. The recipe is simple: first, we factor the
function Q(x) and obtain the turning points and the function R(x)
as in equation . Second, we obtain the maximum and minimum
values of R(x) in the interval between the turning points which
determine the optimum value of ω . Thus we are left with an exact
expression for the period that we may use in numerical
applications. In addition to it, we may expand this exact expression
in a Taylor series in order to obtain partial sums that become
analytical expressions for the period of increasing accuracy. These
partial sums converge to the exact result for all values of the
energy that give rise to periodic motion.