Calculations of a quantum system's behavior can spiral out of control when they involve more than a handful of particles. So for just about anything more complicated than the hydrogen atom, physicists forget about finding an exact solution to the Schrödinger equation and rely instead on approximation methods. Dean Lee of Michigan State University, East Lansing, and colleagues have now proposed an alternative method for when even the best approximation schemes fail. Their approach should be applicable to a variety of many-particle problems in atomic, nuclear, and particle physics.

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