Orthogonality does not diagonalize a varying potential

ID: orthogonality-does-not-diagonalize-a-varying-potential

In the Hilbert space , choose orthonormal functions and . Their inner product is zero, but for the real potential energy ,
Thus ordinary orthogonality alone does not remove an off-diagonal matrix element of a spatially varying potential energy. A constant scalar potential does give zero between distinct orthonormal states. The example separates these two claims; it is not a model of localized atomic orbitals in a particular crystal.

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