Abstract: The analytical transfer matrix method (ATMM) is applied to calculating the critical radius $r_{\rm c}$ and the dipole polarizability $\alpha_{\rm d}$ in two confined systems: the hydrogen atom and the Hulthén potential. We find that there exists a linear relation between $r_{\rm c}^{1/2}$ and the quantum number $n_{r}$ for a fixed angular quantum number $l$, moreover, the three bounds of $\alpha_{\rm d}$ ($\alpha_{\rm d}^{K}$, $\alpha_{\rm d}^{B}$, $\alpha_{\rm d}^{U}$) satisfy an inequality: $\alpha_{\rm d}^{K}\leq\alpha_{\rm d}^{B}\leq\alpha_{\rm d}^{U}$. A comparison between the ATMM, the exact numerical analysis, and the variational wavefunctions shows that our method works very well in the systems.

Key words: ATMM, confined system, critical radius, dipole polarizability