PT-Symmetric Potentials from the Confluent Heun Equation

We derive exactly solvable potentials from the formal solutions of the confluent Heun equation and determine conditions under which the potentials possess PT symmetry. We point out that for the implementation of PT symmetry, the symmetrical canonical form of the Heun equation is more suitable than its non-symmetrical canonical form. The potentials identified in this construction depend on twelve parameters, of which three contribute to scaling and shifting the energy and the coordinate. Five parameters control the z(x) function that detemines the variable transformation taking the Heun equation into the one-dimensional Schrödinger equation, while four parameters play the role of the coupling coefficients of four independently tunable potential terms. The potentials obtained this way contain Natanzon-class potentials as special cases. Comparison with the results of an earlier study based on potentials obtained from the non-symmetrical canonical form of the confluent Heun equation is also presented. While the explicit general solutions of the confluent Heun equation are not available, the results are instructive in identifying which potentials can be obtained from this equation and under which conditions they exhibit PT symmetry, either unbroken or broken.

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