Problem Set 4, Physics 622 (Fall 2001)

Solutions
1 (a) From Eq(2.5.8) in Sakurai, un (x) is the energy eigenfunction, the time dependent
propagator for the simple harmonic oscillator is given by,
X iEn (tt0 )
K(x , t; x , t0 ) =
e ~ un (x )un (x )
n

i h iEn t
i
X h iEn t0
~

=
e
un (x ) e
un (x )
n

p
,
Using Eq(2.5.17) in Sakurai and let = m
~
X 1
1
2

2
2
K(x , t; x , t0 ) = e 2 (x +x )
ei(n+ 2 )(tt0 ) Hn (x )Hn (x )
n
2 n!

n
#
"
2 (x2 +x2 ) i (tt0 ) 2 (x2 +x2 ) X (ei(tt0 ) )n
= e2
Hn (x )Hn (x )
e
e 2
n n!
2

n
1
2 2 2 i
= e 2 (x +x ) e 2 (tt0 )

i2(tt
0)

1e


2 (x2 + x2 ) + 22x x ei(tt0 )
exp
1 ei2(tt0 )
(using Eq(2.5.19) in Sakurai)
=

m
exp
2i~ sin[(t t0 )]

im (x2 + x2 ) cos[(t t0 )] 2x x
2~
sin[(t t0 )]

(b) We try to show that the given Hn (x) indeed satisfies the Hermite differential
equation.
Z
(2i)n
2
Hn (x) =
dz z n e(z+ix)
1/2

n Z
(2i)
2

Hn (x) = 2i 1/2
dz z n (z + ix)e(z+ix)

n Z
(2i)
2
dz z n [1 2(z + ix)2 ]e(z+ix)
Hn (x) = 2 1/2

Hn 2xHn + 2nH
(2i)n
=
1/2

dz

(z+ix)2

z [2 4(z + ix) + 4xi(z + ix) + 2n]e



Z
Z
(2i)n
n (z+ix)2
n+1
(z+ix)2
2(n + 1)
dz z e
4
dz z (z + ix)e
=
1/2

(2i)n
=
1/2

(2i)n
=
1/2

= 0

2(n + 1)

n (z+ix)2

dz z e

2(n + 1)

n (z+ix)2

dz z e

n+1 (z+ix)2


d[(z + ix) ]

Z
i
h
n+1 (z+ix)2
+2 z e
2

n (z+ix)2

(n + 1)z e

(c) The Hamiltonian of the simple harmonic oscillator can be written as



1

H = ~ a a +
2
where a, a are the annihilation and creation operator respectively. Using the
commutator relations:
[a, a ] = 1
[a, H] = ~a,
it can be proved that
aH n = (~ + H)n a.
iHt

a|, ti = a e ~ |i

n

X
it
1

aH n |i
=
n!
~
n=0

n

X
1
it
=

(~ + H)n a|i
n!
~
n=0

n

X
it
1

(~ + H)n |i
=
n!
~
n=0
iHt

= eit e ~ |i
= eit |, ti

Therefore, |, ti is an eigenfunction of a (with eigenvalue eit ) and thus a coherent state. 

2 (a)
x=

~
(a + a) ,
2m

p=i

m~
(a a)
2

a|i = |i
h|a|i =
h|a |i = ha|i =

dz

h|x|i

h|x2 |i =

h|p|i

~
( + )
2m

~
~
h|(a + a)(a + a)|i =
h|a2 + a2 + aa + a a|i
2m
2m

= i

h|p2|i =

m~
( )
2

~
h|a2 + a2 + 2a a + 1|i
2m

~
[( + )2 + 1]
2m

m~
m~
h|(a a)(a a)|i =
h|a2 + a2 aa a a|i
2
2
=

~
h|a2 + a2 2a a 1|i
2m

~
[( )2 1]
2m

~
2m
m~
p2 = h|p2|i h|p|i2 =
2
~
xp =
2 

x2 = h|x2 |i h|x|i2 =

(b) By definition, a coherent state is an eigenstate of the annihilation operator a,

hence
r


m
i
x +
p |i = |i
2~
m
In position space representation,
r


m
i ~ d
x+
(x) = (x)
2~
m i dx
m
d
=
dx
~

!
2~

m


2
2~
m
x m

2~

(x) = C e

3(2.14) (a)

hp |x|i =
=
=

dx hp |x|x ihx |i
dx x hp |x ihx |i
dx x hx |p i hx |i

ip x
1
dx x
e ~ hx |i
Z 2~

= i~ dx hp |x ihx |i
p

= i~ hp |i 
p

(b)
i~
i~

p2
m 2 2

|i =
|i +
x |i
t
2m
2

hp |p2 |i m 2 2
hp |i =
+
hp |x |i
t
2m
2
p2
m 2
hp |i +
i~ hp |x|i
2m
2
p



p2

m 2

=
i~
hp |i +
i~ hp |i
2m
2
p
p
 2


p
m~2 2 2
i~ |i =

hp |i 
2
t
2m
2 p
=

From the symmetry between x and p in the coordinate and momentum space
Schrodinger equation, we can deduce that the energy eigenfunctions in momentum space should be of the form
 
2
p
p2
2p
Hn
e
p

where p = m~ . 
4(2.15) From Eq(2.3.45a) in Sakurai,
x(t) = x(0) cos t +

p(0)
sin t
m

C(t) = h0|x(t)x(0)|0i
= h0|x2 (0)|0i cos t + h0|p(0)x(0)|0i

sin t
m

i~
h0|(a a)(a + a)|0i
2
i~
= h0|aa |0i
2
i~
=
Z 2

h0|p(0)x(0)|0i =

h0|x2 (0)|0i =

dx h0|x2 (0)|x ihx |0i

dx x2 |hx |0i|2
Z

2 2
=
dx x2 e x

=
23
~
=
2m
=

( =

p m
~

Gathering the above results, we have

C(t) =

~ it
e
2m

5(2.17)
ikx

h0|e

|0i =
=

dx h0|eikx |x ihx |0i

dx h0|eikx |x ihx |0i

dx eikx |hx |0i|2

Z

2 2
=
dx eikx e x

k22
=
e 4

=

( =

k2 ~

= e 4m
~
, therefore
2m
 2

k
ikx
2
h0|e |0i = exp h0|x |0i
2

From Eq(2.3.34) in Sakurai, h0|x2 |0i =

p m
~

6(2.20) (a) For x > 0, (x) obeys the same differential equation as the simple harmonic
oscillator, but only those solutions n (x = 0) = 0 are acceptable in the present
problem. Noticing that Hn (0) 6= 0 for even n, the eigenfunctions for the given
potential are those of the simple harmonic oscillator with odd n, and the ground
state energy is therefore,
3
E = ~ 
2
(b) The ground state wavefunction vanishes for x < 0 and is the same as the first
excited state wavefunction of the simple harmonic oscillator for x 0, thus

x<0

0s
3
2 2
p

0 (x) =
x

x0
( = m
)
2 x e 2
~
Z
43
2 2
hx i =
dx x4 e x
0

43 3
=
85
3~
=
2m 
2

END