A recently-formulated residue-squaring method for perturbation problems is subjected to an exacting test in its application to the problem of diagonalising the Hamiltonian of the nonlinear oscillator with quartic anharmonicity. Unlike other methods, this new iterative diagonalisation method enables several eigenvalues to be calculated simultaneously with little more labour than for a single eigenvalue. Values obtained for the four lowest even-parity levels of the anharmonic oscillator from just two or three iterations are shown to agree well with earlier accurate calculations. An approximate analytical formula for the energy levels is also presented.

We study the problem of a possible change in the number of constraints in linear relativistic wave equations (-iβ_μ∂^μ+m)ψ=0 for particles of unique mass, on introduction of minimal coupling to an external electromagnetic field. Complementing our earlier work in which we obtained conditions for non-loss of constraints in equations characterised by the minimalβ-algebraβ₀⁵ =β₀³ we derive here the conditions for such theories not to generate more constraints than in the free case. The results are illustrated by considering specific equations and a fallacy in certain conclusions of Kobayashi and Shamaly on this problem is pointed out.