1

The Quantum Anharmonic Oscillator

Perturbation theory based on Feynman diagrams can be used to calculate observables in Quantum Electrodynamics, like the anomalous magnetic moment of the electron, and the predictions agree with experiment
with impressive accuracy.
The perturbation series in QED is mathematically not well defined. (1) In each order there are ultraviolet
divergences that must be removed, making it impossible to calculate corrections to the mass and charge of
the electron and the normalization of the particle states. (2) The perturbation series does not converge for
any finite value of the renormalized expansion parameter and must be interpreted as an asymptotic series.
This means that predictions can be improved by computing additional terms, but at some point the series
breaks down. The asymptotic nature of the QED perturbation series was first discussed clearly by Dyson[1].
To understand perturbation theory, Feynman diagrams, and the breakdown of perturbation theory, it is helpful to start with the simplest quantum field theory that cannot be solved exactly. The quantum anharmonic
oscillator can be viewed as a scalar field theory in 1 spacetime dimension x = x0 = ct. Space consists of
a single point. The classical Lagrangian is
1 2 m2 2

L(, ) =
4.
2
2
The Lagrangian has dimension [M] = [L]1 in natural units c = ~ = 1, so has dimension [L]1/2. and the
quartic coupling constant has dimension [L]3. The theory has a well defined ground state if the quartic
coupling constant 0. There is no stable ground state if < 0.
1

Canonical Quantization

To quantize a classical field theory, the canonical momenta conjugate to the field variables are found, and
a Legendre transformation used to derive the classical Hamiltonian.
1 2 m2 2
+ 4 .
H = L = +
2
2

L
(t) =
= ,

The field and canonical momentum are promoted to operators acting on the Hilbert space. The operator
properties are determined by replacing the classical Poisson brackets with Heisenberg commutators
h
i
2
m

2
2
4
= i~ .
= +
+ , {, }PB =

= 1 ,
H
2
2

The quantum harmonic oscillator ground state is determined by the eigenvalue equation
|0i = E0() |0i .
H
The ground state energy can be calculated to very high order in perturbation theory. Bender and Wu studied
this problem in a series of articles, one of which[2] presents results using Feynman diagrams and compares
them with results obtained using a recursion relation for the Rayleigh-Schrodinger perturbation series.
A very convenient way to calculate the series is to introduce ladder (creation and annihilation) operators
a + a

=
,
2m

a a
= p
,
i 2/m
2

[a, a] = 1 .

In this Fock space representation, also called second quantization, parameter m is viewed as the mass of
a particle, the ground state |0i is a vacuum state with no particles, and the n-th excited |ni state has n
non-interacting particles (with energy mc2 = ~ in conventional untis). The 4 term in the Hamiltonian
represents interactions, and the shift in energy of the harmonic oscillator states is evaluated using Feynman
rules and Feynman diagrams.
The first order perturbation theory shift in the ground state energy is given by

4
4

h0| a + a |0i .
E0 = h0| |0i =
4
16m2
Expanding a + a

4

gives a sum of 24 = 16 terms.

Wicks Theorem

The expectation value can be evaluated using Wicks Theorem. Consider any term with any number of
creation and annihilation operators. A normal ordered product is defined by moving all creation operators
to the left and annihilation operators to the right. A contraction is the commutator involved any exchange.
Wicks theorem states that the original product equals the normal ordered product plus a sum of normal
ordered terms obtained by making contractions in all possible ways.
Products of 2 operators:
aa = N (aa) + [a, a] = aa + 1 ,

a2 = N (a2) + [a, a] = N (a2) ,

3

a2 = N (a2) + [a, a] = N (a2) .

Example with 3 operators:

a2a = N (a2a) + [a, a]N (a) + N (a)[a, a] + [a, a]N (a) = aa2 + 2a .
General case of 4 operators from Peskin-Schroeder Eq. (4.39)

It is now easy to evaluate the first order correction. Note that the vaccum expectation value of any
normal ordered product of one or more operators is zero. Therefore only the 3 terms on the last line with
two contractions each will contribute. Each of these terms must have two creation and two annihilation
operators so that both contractions are non-zero. There are exactly 6 such terms
aaaa

aaaa

aaaa

aaaa

aaaa

aaaa

and 2 ways of contracting each of them.

h0| 4 |0i = 12 ,

E0 =

12
=
.
16m2
4m2

Recursion Relations for Perturbative Coefficients

Bender and Wu scale the field for convenience and define

x
,
2

d
i 2
dx

and write the eigenvalue equation in the Schrodinger representation as a differential equation


2
d
1
1
|0i =
hx| H
+ x2 + x4 (x) = E()(x) ,
2
dx 4
4
to be solved with boundary condition () = 0. An exact analytic solution of this equation has never
been found. Using perturbation theory, the ground state energy can be expanded in a power series
n

X
E0() 1

= +
An ,
m
2 n=1 m3
where the first term is the ground state energy of the simple harmonic oscillator, and the coefficients An
are dimensionless real numbers.
A recursion relation for the coefficients An can be derived by expressing the ground state wave function as
a power series
#
"
n

X

x2 /4
(x) = 1 +
B
(x)
e
,
n
3
m
n=1
5

where the ground state wave function of the simple harmonic oscillator has been factored out. To satisfy
the Schrodinger equation order by order in , it is sufficient to take the coefficient functions Bn(x) to be
polynomials of degree 2n
2n  2 j
X
x
Bn,j .
B0 = 1 , Bn(x) = (1)n
2
j=1
Plugging these series expansions into the Schrodinger equation and collecting terms of order n gives the
recursion relation
2jBn,j = (j + 1)(2j + 1)Bn,j+1 + Bn1,j2

n1
X

Bnk,1Bk,j .

k=1

Bender and Wu show that the coefficients in the series for E0 are given by
1
In
4n
where In is a positive integer divisible by 3. To solve the recursion relation start with first order n = 1 with
wave function polynomial
 2
 2 2
x
x
B1(x) =
B1,1
B1,2 ,
2
2
and the recursion relations for j = 1, 2:
An = (1)n+1Bn,1 =

2B1,1 = 6B1,2
4B1,2 = B0,0
6

which can be solved for

B0,0 = B0 = 1 ,

1
1
B1,2 = B0,0 = ,
4
4

B1,1 = 3B1,2 =

3
,
4

A1 = B1,1 =

3
.
4

At second order n = 2

B2(x) =

x2
2


B2,1 +

x2
2

2


B2,2 +

x2
2

3


B2,3 +

x2
2

4
B2,4 ,

we can use the 4 recursion relations for j = 1, 2, 3, 4

j=1:

2
2B2,1 = 6B2,2 B1,1

j=2:
j=3:
j=4:

4B2,2 = 15B2,3 B1,1B1,2

6B2,3 = 28B2,4 + B1,2
8B2,4 = B1,2

which can be solved for

1
13
31
21
21
B2,4 =
, B2,3 =
, B2,2 =
, B2,1 =
, A2 = B2,1 = .
32
48
32
8
8
Bender and Wu solved these recursion relations to obtain the first 75 terms in the perturbation series and
used the results to show that the series diverges. The first 9 coefficients are

We will use Mathematica to obtain these results.

Feynman Diagram Calculation

Bender and Wu summarize a Feynman diagram calculation of the first 3 coefficients A1, A2, A3 in Appendix
B. The diagrams to be computed and the Feynman rules for the theory are:

Feynman Rules
A factor of

1
E 2 m2 +i

for each propagator

A factor of 24 for each vertex

For each independent loop integrate

i
2

dE

Multiply by the symmetry number S.N.

Order 1

The symmetry factor is the inverse of the number of transformations that map the diagram into itself without
breaking any lines. For this diagram, the two loops can be interchanged, giving a factor of 2. The start and
end a loop line can be interchanged, giving a factor of 2. The total number of symmetry transformations is
2 2 2 = 8 and the symmetry factor is 1/8.
Apply the Feynman rules:
 Z
2
i
1
1
24
dE 2
8
2
E m2 + i
The denominator is the Green function of the free field Euler-Lagrange equation

 2
d
+ m2 (t) = 0
2
dt
with Feynman boundary conditions  0+. The integral can be evaluated using contour integration


Z
Z
1
1
2i
1
1
=
dE

=
.
dE 2
2 + i
E

m
2m
E

m
+
i
E
+
m

i
2m

The value of the order 1 Feynman diagram is the first order correction to the ground state energy
3
= E0 .
4m2

10

References
[1] F.J. Dyson, Divergence of Perturbation Theory in Quantum Electrodynamics Phys. Rev. 85, 631632
(1952).
[2] C.M. Bender and T.T. Wu, Anharmonic Oscillator Phys. Rev. 184, 12311260 (1969).

11