Representation reduction and solution space contraction in quasi-exactly solvable systems

In quasi-exactly solvable problems partial analytic solution (energy spectrum and associated wavefunctions) are obtained if some potential parameters are assigned specific values. We introduce a new class in which exact solutions are obtained at a given energy for a special set of values of the potential parameters. To obtain a larger solution space one varies the energy over a discrete set (the spectrum). A unified treatment that includes the standard as well as the new class of quasi-exactly solvable problems is presented and few examples (some of which are new) are given. The solution space is spanned by discrete square integrable basis functions in which the matrix representation of the Hamiltonian is tridiagonal. Imposing quasi-exact solvability constraints result in a complete reduction of the representation into the direct sum of a finite and infinite component. The finite is real and exactly solvable, whereas the infinite is complex and associated with zero norm states. Consequently, the whole physical space contracts to a finite dimensional subspace with normalizable states.