title: Sixth-order factorization of the evolution operator for time-dependent potentials.
abstract: The evolution operator of a quantum system in a time-dependent potential is factorized in unitary exponential operators at order 6. This expression is derived with the time-ordering method. It is compared with lower-order factorizations on several simple one-dimensional examples. Better accuracies are reached at sixth order for a given time step than at lower orders. Due to a significant increase of computation duration per time step, the sixth-order approximation is mainly useful when high accuracies are required.
authors.affiliation: Physique Quantique, CP165/82, Physique Nucléaire Théorique et Physique Mathématique, C.P. 229, Université Libre de Bruxelles, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Baye