The Parity Operator for the Quantum Oscillator

in the Jordan Representation

Patrick Bruskiewich,
Department of Physics and Astronomy,
tlniversity of British Columbia
6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, 8.C.,
Canada V6T lZI
May 9, 2005

Atrstract
P. Jordarr and E. Wigner introduced the creation and annihilation operator formalism for fermions in
1928, the so called Jordan representation. P.A.M. Dirac made use of the analogue of these operators for the
quantum oscillator, the raising and lowering operators, noting the dynamics of a quantum oscillator can
be completely characterized using these two operators. One can dispense with the coordinate and momen-
tum representation altogether and describe the quantum oscillator completely in terms of the creation and
annihilation operators. Using Dirac's transformation theory, the Parity Operator fI for a one dimensional
quantum oscillator can be derived by means of a unitary transformation using the Jordan representation.

1 The Hamiltonian for the Quantum Oscillator

In terms of the creation operator dt

dt=
V zn
r;; r - x (1)

and the annihilation operator i

"= lrnu
+'
" ITT* (2)

in the Jordan representation the Hamiltonian ff for a one dimensional quantum oscillator can be expressed

H = huat a n*ou = hw(at a ++) (3)

where p - *i h 5fo tO] The commutator for the operators for this bosonic system is

[a,at]=r (4)

The dynamical properties of this system can be expressed in a succinct form by using the creation and
annihilation operators, namely

f
u,u] =-hua (5)

and
 lu,*f : n, oI (6)

Defining the Number Operator D for the system as

dla=fr (7)

the Hamiltonian applied to a state t!.{r) of the system yields the energy eigenvalue

E" *(n* 1
; ) h,
L
(8)

2 The Paritv Operator

The Parity Operator (II) applied to s and B as well as to the state r/(r) yield the following

IIh -+ -h (e)

and

n t!@) -+ 'rl,?r) ( 10)

or equivalently

iltn-1 * -fr (11)

and

l]p l]-t - -p (12)

Recall that both the position operator 0 and the momentum operator p can be expressed in terms of the
creation and lower operators, namely

, _
-L(o '
+ at) (13)
{(2mu)
and

(14)

We should, therefore, be able to express the Parity Operator as an operator on either the dynamical variables
x and p, or on the creation and lower operators dt and &. That is

il(at+a)I]-l =*(aI+a) (15)

and

n(at - 0)n-l - -(af - c) (16)

The advantages of describing the quantum oscillator in terms of the creation and lower operators becomes
self evident even more so when looking at the Parity of the system. It is straightforward to show that these
two expressions in two unknowns lead to the following transformations of the creation and lower operators
 ilatil-1 : * aI ( 17)

and

IIAI]-1 - -a (18)

This places the creation and annihilation operators dt and d front and centre, and on equal footings, with
the position operator f aud the momeritum operator p, as {ar as the determination of the functional form of
the Parity oper&tor fI is concerned. Since we are interested in normal ordered operators we shall focus our
attention on the Parity Operator applied on 6t.

S An Explicit Representation of tI
Using normal ordering, in essence we seek an operator that transforms of -+ - at. It is natural to ask whether
such a Parity operator (II) can be expressed in terms of a unitary transformation of the form [0]

rI - exp (t.\ S) (1e)

By inspection it is evident that [I cannot be arrived at by means of infinitesimal transformations. Using

the Baker-Hausdorff lemma we can express I1 al II-1 as

rlatn-1 = exp(i.\S) ar exp(*t]S; = 2t +,.\ lS,utl * ry lS, e,ut]]+ , (20)

Consider an operator -9 such that

Is,r'] =o' (21)

then the expansion would take the form

exp(0.\ S; at e"p( *i.\.fl = at (1+ t.\ + t Oi *. . (22)

"
With ihis choice of operator, and gathering the terms together \rye see then that

"xp(-r.\3) = at |cos(.\) + f sin(A)l

exp(r.tr,9; at (29)

We are free to choose I and so if we set tr = n then the expansion to the right of this expression is equal
to exp( i ) - - | and the expansion becomes
"
exp(fAS) ,ntexp(-df ,9) = st(u"p(io)) *-ol (24)

From our description of the properties of the creation and annihilation operators outlined above we have a
composite operator that meets this requirement, namely ^9 = ,ii 6, that is

laI a,6t ] = at (25)

and so then the Parity Operator for a one dimensional quantum oscillator can be represented as

II * exp Ur At A) (26)

Why this representation of the Parity Operator works is evidently due to the identity
 lAB,Cl =A[B,C]+lA,Cl B (zz)

that allows us to express the expansion of lat a,el as

lata,at] =atla,at]+lat,atla=at (28)

Normal ordering needs to be maintained when applying this representation of the Parity Operator.

4 The Parity Operator in the Number Representation

The wavefunction tl"(r) for a state of a one dimensional quantum oscillator with quantum number n can be
build up from the ground state r/p(c) by using the creation operator an n-fold number of times, namely [0]

'bn@j =
ot )" $s(n) =l n 2 (2e)
h(
In number representation the creation and annihilation operator take on the form

6I = x(s1f,lYfi ln*r><nl (30)

and

a= \/ftW l"*L)<rl (31)

A simple analysis, term by term, of the Parity Operator applied to the state I n > Ieads to a simplification
of the expression. Note that the term ( at a ) applied to ( ct )d yields

(oto)(ot)" =n(ot\" (32)

We could equally have represented the annihilation operator & in its equivalent differential form

^d
a:=- (33)
dar
which when applied to ( ct )" yields

(oto)( ot;" -1at; = n( ot)" (34)

*tU)n
The m-th term in the exponential representation of the Parity Operator, applied to state I n ), yields

(ot o)*(ot)" =(otCI) (oto) ( ot)" = n* (aI 7" (35)

Explicitly then

exp(r nala) l,>= i U#(ctta)* l'>= t"U#L r",

m=O m,=O
(36)

When we recall De Moivte's theorem lrye see that the Parity Operator acting on the state In > yields [0]

il lt>- exp(irfi) ln>- [.tp(i")]" ln>= (-1)" l"> (37)

So then, we can express the Parity Operator in terms of the Number Operator D as

II= exp(irn) (38)

5 The Parity Operator as an Infinite Sum
Itis also possible to represent the Parity Operator as a denumerably infinite sum. Completeness for a system
such as a one dimensional quantum oscillator requires that

It"><nl-1 (3e)

It is straightforward to show that for any parameter { and operator exp ({ at c) that the exponential
operator applied to the completeness criteria vields [0]

exp({ ot o) = I exp({ ft ir) l" > (, I (40)

n=0

If we set { = f r then we have another expression for the Parity Operator, namely

exp(f n o) a) =t
n=0
exp(r n
") l" ) 1n l= I cos(r.n) ln> <nl t41)

l{otice that this denumerably infinite sum divides the sum into those terms with sign positive and those
with sign negative,

|
n=0 ""r("")
ln)(n1= | (-l)" In><nl=10><01 - l1><11 + l2><21- l3><31 J-
n=O
(42)
The Parity Operator expressed as a denumerably infinite suur becomes

fI = exp(irat a) = l0><01 - l1><11 + l2><21 - IB><Jl +. (43)

When you apply the Parity Operator in this representation to a state | 6 ), you select out that particular
term I s ) < I in the infinite sunl, along with the sign of that term. As is evident then, the quantum number
"
n not only characterizes the state of the one dimensional quantum oscillator, but the parity of the state as
well, that is, whether the state is even (n = 0, 2,4,. . .) or odd (n = I,3, 5, . . .).

6 The Parity Operator and the Hamiltonian

The Parity Operator outlined above quite evidently leaves the Hamiltonian unchanged, namely

flgil-l = n (44)

in that rl evidently commutes with iiself. Another way of showing this is to note that

fl f' II-1 = lil 6 il-1 ], = (-A)' - (*1)' t" (45)

and

II pr n-t = [rI p fI-1 ]" = (-p)" = (-1), p" (46)

which for s = 2 erridently yields the expected result that the Hamiltonian is unchanged.
 7 References
G. Baym, Lectures on Quantum Mechanics, {w.A Benjamin Inc., New york, r{y, 1g6g), p.ll}l2g
F. Kaempffer, Concepts in Quantum Mechanics, (Academic Press, New York, Ny, 196b), p. g3-g6
D. Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, (Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 1gg5), p. 32-86
R. Churchill, Complex Variables and Applications, (McGraw-Hill, New york, Ny, 1960), p.11
W. Louisell, Radiation and Noise in Quantum Electronics, (McGraw-Hill, New york, lrly, ig64), p.gb

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