Quantum harmonic oscillator

Some trajectories of a harmonic oscillator according to Newton's laws of classical mechanics (A–B), and according to the Schrödinger equation of quantum mechanics (C–H). In A–B, the particle (represented as a ball attached to a spring) oscillates back and forth. In C–H, some solutions to the Schrödinger Equation are shown, where the horizontal axis is position, and the vertical axis is the real part (blue) or imaginary part (red) of the wavefunction. C, D, E, F, but not G, H, are energy eigenstates. H is a coherent state—a quantum state that approximates the classical trajectory.

The quantum harmonic oscillator is the quantum-mechanical analog of the classical harmonic oscillator. Because an arbitrary smooth potential can usually be approximated as a harmonic potential at the vicinity of a stable equilibrium point, it is one of the most important model systems in quantum mechanics. Furthermore, it is one of the few quantum-mechanical systems for which an exact, analytical solution is known.[1][2][3]

  1. ^ Griffiths 2004.
  2. ^ Liboff 2002.
  3. ^ Rashid, Muneer A. (2006). "Transition amplitude for time-dependent linear harmonic oscillator with Linear time-dependent terms added to the Hamiltonian" (PDF-Microsoft PowerPoint). M.A. Rashid – Center for Advanced Mathematics and Physics. National Center for Physics. Retrieved 19 October 2010.

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