Today’s Topic(s)

The Harmonic Oscillator (Cont…)

01st March’ 2022

 Energy Eigenstates
Let us consider 𝒂† 𝒏 = 𝒏 + 𝟏 𝒏 + 𝟏 .
Using this equation the various eigenvectors can be written in terms of the ground state
𝒏 as follows:
𝟏 = 𝒂† 𝟎 ,
𝟏 † 𝟏 † 𝟐
𝟐 = 𝒂 𝟏 = 𝒂 𝟎,
𝟐 𝟐!
𝟏 † 𝟏 † 𝟑
𝟑 = 𝒂 𝟐 = 𝒂 𝟎,
𝟑 𝟑!
⋮
𝟏 † 𝟏 † 𝒏
𝒏 = 𝒂 𝒏−𝟏 = 𝒂 𝟎.
𝒏 𝒏!
So, to find any excited eigenstate 𝒏 , we need simply to operate 𝒂† on 𝟎 𝒏 successive
times.
 Since 𝑯 is Hermitian, any set of kets 𝒏 and 𝒏′ , corresponding to different eigenvalues,
must be orthogonal, i.e.,

𝒏′ 𝒏 ~ 𝜹𝒏′ ,𝒏 .

 None of its eigenstates is degenerate.

 The states 𝟎 , 𝟏 , 𝟐 , … 𝒏 , … are simultaneous eigenstates of 𝑯 and 𝑵.

 The set 𝒏 constitutes an orthonormal and complete basis:

+∞

𝒏′ 𝒏 ~ 𝜹𝒏′,𝒏 ; 𝒏 𝒏 = 𝟏.
𝒏=𝟎
 Energy Eigenstates in Position Space
Knowing the ground state wave function, we can determine any other eigenstate by
successive applications of the operator 𝒂† on the ground state.
The operator 𝒑, defined by 𝒑 = 𝑷 𝒎𝝎ℏ, is given in the position space by

𝒊ℏ
𝒅 𝒅
𝒑=− = −𝒊𝒙𝟎 ,
𝒎𝝎ℏ 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙

where 𝒙𝟎 = ℏ (𝒎𝝎) .
𝑿𝟏 𝒅 𝟏 𝟐
𝒅
𝒂= + 𝒙𝟎 = 𝑿 + 𝒙𝟎 ,
𝟐 𝒙𝟎 𝒅𝒙 𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝒅𝒙

𝟏 𝑿 𝒅 𝟏 𝒅
𝒂† = − 𝒙𝟎 = 𝑿 − 𝒙𝟎 𝟐 .
𝟐 𝒙𝟎 𝒅𝒙 𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝒅𝒙
 Using 𝒂 𝒏 = 𝒏 𝒏 − 𝟏 , we have

𝒂𝟎 = 𝟎.

In the position space, we can write

𝟏 𝟐 𝒅 𝟏 𝟐
𝒅𝝍𝟎 𝒙
𝒙𝒂𝟎 = 𝒙 𝑿 + 𝒙𝟎 𝟎 = 𝒙𝝍𝟎 𝒙 + 𝒙𝟎 = 𝟎;
𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝒅𝒙 𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝒅𝒙

Hence,

𝒅𝝍𝟎 𝒙 𝒙
= − 𝟐 𝝍𝟎 𝒙 ,
𝒅𝒙 𝒙𝟎

where 𝝍𝟎 𝒙 = 𝒙 𝟎 represents the ground state wave function.

 The solution of the previous differential equation is
𝒙𝟐
𝝍𝟎 𝒙 = 𝑨 𝒆𝒙𝒑 − 𝟐
,
𝟐𝒙𝟎
where 𝑨 is a constant that can be determined from the normalization condition
+∞ +∞ 𝟐
𝒙
𝟏= 𝒅𝒙 𝝍𝟎 𝒙 𝟐 = 𝑨𝟐 𝒅𝒙 𝒆𝒙𝒑 − 𝟐 = 𝑨𝟐 𝝅𝒙𝟎 ;
−∞ −∞ 𝒙𝟎

hence, 𝑨 = 𝟏 𝝅𝒙𝟎 = 𝒎𝝎 (𝝅ℏ) 𝟏 𝟒.

The normalized ground state wave function is then given by

𝟏 𝒙𝟐
𝝍𝟎 𝒙 = 𝒆𝒙𝒑 − 𝟐
.
𝝅𝒙𝟎 𝟐𝒙𝟎

This is a Gaussian function.

We can then obtain the wave function of any excited state by a series of applications of 𝒂† on
the ground state.

First excited state:

𝟏 𝒅
𝒙𝟏 = 𝒙 𝒂† 𝟎 = 𝒙 𝑿 − 𝒙𝟎 𝟐 𝟎
𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝒅𝒙
𝟏 𝟐
𝒅
= 𝒙 − 𝒙𝟎 𝒙𝟎
𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝒅𝒙
𝟏 𝟐 (−
𝒙 𝟐
= 𝒙 − 𝒙𝟎 𝟐
) 𝝍𝟎 𝒙 = 𝒙𝝍𝟎 𝒙
𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝒙𝟎 𝒙𝟎

Or
𝟐 𝟐 𝒙𝟐
𝝍𝟏 𝒙 = 𝒙𝝍𝟎 𝒙 = 𝟑
𝒙 𝒆𝒙𝒑 − 𝟐 .
𝒙𝟎 𝝅𝒙𝟎 𝟐𝒙𝟎
Similarly, we can easily infer the energy eigenstate for the 𝒏𝒕𝒉 excited state as
𝒏 𝒏
𝟏 † 𝒏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟐
𝒅
𝒙𝒏 = 𝒙 𝒂 𝟎 = 𝒙 − 𝒙𝟎 𝝍𝟎 𝒙 .
𝒏! 𝒏! 𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝒅𝒙

The above equation can be rewritten as

𝒏
𝟏 𝟏 𝟐 𝟐
𝒅 𝒙𝟐
𝝍𝒏 𝒙 = 𝒏+𝟏 𝟐 𝟑
𝒙 − 𝒙𝟎 𝒆𝒙𝒑 − 𝟐 .
𝝅𝟐𝒏 𝒏! 𝒙𝟎 𝝅𝒙𝟎 𝒅𝒙 𝟐𝒙𝟎
 Oscillator wave functions and the Hermite polynomials
Let us use this operator identity

−𝒙𝟐 𝟐
𝒅 𝒙𝟐 𝟐
𝒅 −𝒙𝟐 𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝟐 𝟐
𝒅 𝒙𝟐 𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝟐 𝟐
𝒅
𝒆 𝒙− 𝒆 =− 𝒐𝒓 𝒆 𝒙 − 𝒙𝟎 𝒆 = −𝒙𝟎 ,
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙

An application of this operator 𝒏 times leads at once to

𝒏
−𝒙𝟐 𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝟐 𝟐
𝒅 𝒙𝟐 𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝟐 𝒏 𝟐 𝒏
𝒅𝒏
𝒆 𝒙 − 𝒙𝟎 𝒆 = −𝟏 𝒙𝟎 𝒏
,
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙

which can be shown to yield

𝒏
𝟐
𝒅 −𝒙𝟐 𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝟐 𝒏 𝟐 𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝟐 𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝟐
𝒅𝒏 −𝒙𝟐 𝒙𝟎 𝟐 .
𝒙 − 𝒙𝟎 𝒆 = −𝟏 𝒙𝟎 𝒏
𝒆
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
 Now

𝒏 𝟐 𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝟐 𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝟐
𝒅𝒏 −𝒙𝟐 𝒙𝟎 𝟐 𝒏𝒆 𝒙𝟐 𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝟐 𝒏𝒆 𝒙𝟐 𝒙𝟎 𝟐 𝒅𝒏 −𝒙𝟐 𝒙 𝟐
−𝟏 𝒙𝟎 𝒏
𝒆 = 𝒙𝟎 −𝟏 𝒏
𝒆 𝟎
𝒅𝒙 𝒅 𝒙 𝒙𝟎
𝒅 𝒏
𝒏
= 𝒙𝟎 𝒆 𝒙𝟐
𝟐𝒙𝟎 −𝟏 𝒆
𝟐
𝒏 𝒆 −𝒚𝟐 𝒚𝟐
𝒅𝒚 𝒏
𝒏 𝒙𝟐 𝟐𝒙 𝟐
= 𝒙𝟎 𝒆 𝟎 𝑯
𝒏 𝒚 ,
𝒙 𝒏
where 𝒚 = and 𝑯𝒏 𝒚 = −𝟏 𝒏 𝒆𝒚𝟐 𝒅 𝒆−𝒚𝟐 are the Hermite polynomials.
𝒙𝟎 𝒅𝒚𝒏

Therefore,
𝒏
𝟐
𝒅 −𝒙𝟐 𝟐𝒙 𝟐 𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝟐 𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝟐 𝑯
𝒙
𝒙 − 𝒙𝟎 𝒆 𝟎 = 𝒙𝟎 𝒏 .
𝒅𝒙 𝒙𝟎
Thus, the oscillator wave function in terms of the Hermite polynomials can be written as:
𝟏 𝒙𝟐 𝒙
𝝍𝒏 𝒙 = 𝒆𝒙𝒑 − 𝟐
𝑯𝒏
𝝅𝟐𝒏 𝒏! 𝒙𝟎 𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝒙𝟎
 Today’s Topic(s)

The Harmonic Oscillator (Cont…)

The Stern-Gerlach Experiment

02nd March’ 2022

Thus, the oscillator wave function in terms of the Hermite polynomials can be written as:
𝟏 𝒙𝟐 𝒙
𝝍𝒏 𝒙 = 𝒆𝒙𝒑 − 𝟐
𝑯𝒏 .
𝝅𝟐𝒏 𝒏! 𝒙 𝟎 𝟐𝒙𝟎 𝒙𝟎

The first few polynomials:

𝑯𝟎 𝒚 = 𝟏; 𝑯𝟏 𝒚 = 𝟐𝒚
𝑯𝟐 𝒚 = 𝟒𝒚𝟐 − 𝟐; 𝑯𝟑 𝒚 = 𝟖𝒚𝟑 − 𝟏𝟐𝒚
𝑯𝟒 𝒚 = 𝟏𝟔𝒚𝟒 − 𝟒𝟖𝒚𝟐 + 𝟏𝟐; 𝑯𝟓 𝒚 = 𝟑𝟐𝒚𝟓 − 𝟏𝟔𝟎𝒚𝟑 + 𝟏𝟐𝟎𝒚.
Shapes of the first three wave functions of the harmonic oscillator.
 The Matrix Representation of Various Operators
Since the states 𝒏 are joint eigenstates of 𝑯 and 𝑵, it can be shown that 𝑯 and 𝑵 are
represented within the 𝒏 basis by infinite diagonal matrices:

𝒏′ 𝑵 𝒏 = 𝒏 𝒏′ 𝒏 = 𝒏𝜹𝒏′,𝒏 ,
&
′
𝟏
𝒏 𝑯 𝒏 = ℏ𝝎 𝒏 + 𝜹𝒏′,𝒏 .
𝟐

𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 ⋯ 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 ⋯
𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 ⋯ ℏ𝝎 𝟎 𝟑 𝟎 ⋯
𝑵= 𝟎 𝟎 𝟐 ⋯ 𝑯= ⋯
𝟐 𝟎 𝟎 𝟓
⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋱
Since 𝒂, 𝒂† , 𝑿 and 𝑷 do not commute with 𝑵, thus these operators are non-diagonal in the 𝑵-
representation.

The matrix elements of 𝒂 and 𝒂† can be obtained from:

𝒏′ 𝒂 𝒏 = 𝒏 𝒏′ 𝒏 − 𝟏 = 𝒏𝜹𝒏′ ,𝒏−𝟏 ,
&
𝒏′ 𝒂† 𝒏 = 𝒏 + 𝟏𝜹𝒏′,𝒏+𝟏 .

𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 ⋯ 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 ⋯
𝟎 𝟎 𝟐 𝟎 ⋯ 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 ⋯
𝒂= 𝒂† = 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 ⋯
𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟑 ⋯ 𝟐
𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 ⋯ 𝟎 𝟎 𝟑 𝟎 ⋯
⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋱
 𝑵-representation of the position and momentum operators, 𝑿 and 𝑷
𝟏 𝟏
𝒑=𝑷 𝒎𝝎ℏ & 𝒒 = 𝑿 𝒎𝝎 ℏ ; 𝒂= 𝒒 + 𝒊𝒑 & 𝒂† = 𝒒 − 𝒊𝒑 .
𝟐 𝟐
ℏ 𝒎𝝎ℏ †
𝑿= 𝒂 + 𝒂† & 𝑷=𝒊 𝒂 −𝒂 .
𝟐𝒎𝝎 𝟐

ℏ 𝒎𝝎ℏ
𝒏′ 𝑿 𝒏 = 𝒏𝜹𝒏′ ,𝒏−𝟏 + 𝒏 + 𝟏𝜹𝒏′ ,𝒏+𝟏 & 𝒏′ 𝑷 𝒏 = 𝒊 − 𝒏𝜹𝒏′ ,𝒏−𝟏 + 𝒏 + 𝟏𝜹𝒏′ ,𝒏+𝟏
𝟐𝒎𝝎 𝟐
𝒏 𝑿 𝒏 = 𝒏 𝑷 𝒏 = 𝟎.

𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 ⋯ 𝟎 − 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 ⋯
ℏ 𝟏 𝟎 𝟐 𝟎 ⋯ 𝒎𝝎ℏ 𝟏 𝟎 − 𝟐 𝟎 ⋯
𝑿= 𝟎 𝟐 𝟎 𝟑 ⋯ 𝑷=𝒊 𝟎 𝟐 𝟎 − 𝟑 ⋯
𝟐𝒎𝝎 𝟐
𝟎 𝟎 𝟑 𝟎 ⋯ 𝟎 𝟎 𝟑 𝟎 ⋯
⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋱
 Matrix representation of the eigenstates 𝒏

The eigenstates 𝒏 are represented by infinite column matrices; the first few states can be
written as

𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎
𝟎 = 𝟎 , 𝟏 = 𝟏 , 𝟐 = 𝟎 , 𝟑 = 𝟎 ,….
𝟎 𝟎 𝟏 𝟎
𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟏
⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋮
 Experimental evidence of the spin by Stern and Gerlach in 1922
A collimated beam of silver atoms heading in, say, the 𝒚-direction, and passing through a non
uniform magnetic field directed (mostly) in the 𝒛-direction.

The Stern-Gerlach apparatus

Silver has 47 electrons; 46 of them form a spherically symmetric charge distribution and the
47th electron occupies a 𝟓𝒔 orbital.

𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒄 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: 𝑨𝒈𝟒𝟕 → 𝟏𝒔𝟐 𝟐𝒔𝟐 𝟐𝒑𝟔 𝟑𝒔𝟐 𝟑𝒑𝟔 𝟑𝒅𝟏𝟎 𝟒𝒔𝟐 𝟒𝒑𝟔 𝟒𝒅𝟏𝟎 𝟓𝒔𝟏

In the ground state, its total orbital angular momentum would be zero, since 𝒍 = 𝟎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔 − 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆.

Classical prediction:
On the screen a continuous band that is symmetric about the undeflected direction, 𝒛 = 𝟎.

Schrödinger’s wave theory:

If the atoms have an orbital angular momentum 𝒍, we would expect the beam to split into an odd
(discrete) number of (𝟐𝒍 + 𝟏) components.

Experimental results:
It splits into two distinct components as shown in the previous Figure.

It also observed for hydrogen atoms in their ground state, where no splitting is expected.