Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics from a

Chemist's Perspective
Kaushik Maji
Department of Chemistry, Bidhannagar College
EB II, Sector I, Salt Lake City, Kolkata 700064
pckmiacs@gmail.com

Abstract— Supersymmetry (SUSY) can be thought of as a special kind of symmetry which is responsible for the degeneracy of
energy eigenvalue spectrum of two different hamiltonians. The underlying mathematical idea behind supersymmetric quantum
mechanics (SUSY-QM) is that every hamiltonian �� has a partner hamiltonian �� in which the spectrum of �� and �� are
identical for all states above the ground state of �� . That is to say, the ground state of �� has the same energy as that of the first
excited state of �� and so on. SUSY is obtained by factorizing the hamiltonian �� & �� in terms of charge operators (��� and �� )
as �� � ��� �� and defining the partner hamiltonian �� � �� ���. Under suitable application of these charge operators
degenerate eigenfunctions of �� and SUSY partner H2 are inter-convertible. One can expect like other symmetries in quantum
mechanics SUSY also can lead to significant computational simplifications and advantages. In SUSY everything hinges on the
accuracy of the ground state wavefunction. We always concentrate on the ground state wavefunction and energy and not on the
accuracy of the higher excited states. Rayleigh-Ritz variational principle, one of the cornerstones of quantum chemistry,
determines the ground state energy eigenvalue and eigenfunction with highest accuracy. So one can profitably use SUSY to get
better converged excited states of a hamiltonian by applying charge operator on variationally determined ground state of partner
hamiltonian. It seems promising to apply this elegant method to provide a route to find a better estimate of the excited state
energy and wavefunction in a less computationally demanding way within the framework of traditional variational method.
From the numerical point of view, it is of little practical utility unless it can be extended well beyond one dimension. An
attempt has been made in this direction by introducing a vector superpotential in an orthogonal hyperspace. The goodness of
this method is gauged in multi dimension.

Keywords: Supersymmetry, Variational principle, Ground state

presence quite debatable. There are several theories of

I. INTRODUCTION
Symmetry has long been used as a powerful formal and
computational tool in quantum mechanics. Generally
manifestation of presence of symmetry in a system occurs
in the form of degeneracy in the energy eigenvalues
spectrum. For example, the different types of degeneracy
present in hydrogen atom energy spectrum can be
explained in terms of symmetry. (2l+1) degeneracy for a
given l is a consequence of presence of spherical symmetry
and l degeneracy for a given n, the so called accidental
degeneracy is due to presence of hidden symmetry. In the
first case angular momentum is the conserved quantity and
for the 2nd case it is Laplace-Runge-Lenz M � = �( P
� X L� -
� will elaborate this procedure in the methodology section.
L� X P� ) -Q
� vector. In fact, it is of utmost importance to find
new symmetries in nature. Supersymmetry is a new hidden
symmetry[1]. Following this train of thoughts one can
introduce supersymmetry (SUSY), in a bit naïve sense
perhaps, as a special symmetry which is responsible for the
degeneracy of energy eigenvalues spectrums of two (or
more) different Hamiltonians even if there is no correlation
with one another. Originally, it predicts “for every Boson,
there is also a Fermion of the same mass (energy) and vice
versa”. But, in nature it is never observed and thus makes it
spontaneous symmetry breaking to reconcile the anomaly
of SUSY prediction. We are not interested in those aspects
of SUSY. Later it is observed that SUSY is an intrinsic
feature of ordinary QM, known as SUSY-QM. The
existence of SUSY in nature is not quintessential here and
it has been used primarily as a pedagogical tool[2,3]. This
is because it shares an intimate connection with well-
known ladder operator technique in QM to solve
algebraically Harmonic oscillator, Angular momentum,
Hydrogen atom problems. Drawing a parallel to ladder
operator technique the essential idea behind SUSY can be
said as a factorization of 1-d Hamiltonian in terms of
charge operators. The novelty is that, now, one generates
isospectral Hamiltonian from these charge operators. We
The layout of the paper is as follows:
(i) A brief introduction to SUSY methodology with
possible extension to higher dimension.
(ii) How it can be used profitably as a computation tool and
gauge its workability in results and discussion section.
(iii) Conclusions.
II. M ETHODOLOGY
The idea starts from defining superpotential(W) in terms of
 ��� ���
a ground state wave function��� �which solves the time This shows that �� �� is an eigenfunction of H2 with
���
independent Schr�� dinger equation with zero energy [1- eigenvalue �� . Similarly, one can show
6].This is completely harmless because we can always set
ground state energy to zero by adding suitable constant. ���
H� �Q�� ψ� � � E� �Q�� ψ� �
��� ���
(9)
���
� �ψ� � � ���
W�� ��� �� ln ψ� (1) ���
��� �� is an eigenfunction of �� with the same energy ��
���
�ψ� �� � ��
���
as that of the state�� . Thus combining these last two
Here the subscript in wavefunction denotes the eigenstate relations one can conclude�� and �� have identical spectra
���
and the superscript is the sector number which we will with the exception of the ground state, since �� � 0
��� ���
introduce shortly. �� solves the time independent wavefunction is unique. Because of uniqueness of the ��
Schr�� dinger equation with zero ground state energy as, state, the indexing of the first and second sector levels must
be modified. The modified relations are,
���
1 d� ψ� ���
� � V� ψ� � 0. �2� ���
E� � E���
���
(10)
2 dx�
��� ���
�� ���� ��� ��
Here �� differs from actual potential by a constant. Now �� ���
ψ� � & ψ��� �
���
(11)
can be expressed in term of � as, �����
���
�����
�

���
� �� ψ� � �� So eigenstates of two sectors are are inter-convertible by
V� � � ��� �
���
� �
�
�W� �x� � ��
�. (3)
�ψ� suitable charge operators. Ground state of sector 1 has no
susy partner. This can be represented schematically in the
� �� ��
���
��� Figure (1). 1st excited state of sector I is degenerate with
Eqn.(2) yields, �� � �� � � � ′��� � � 0.The ground state of sector 2, and goes on. Notice ground state
� �� �
Hamiltonian operator can now be factored as, of sector I isnodeless while 1st excited state of sector 2 has
anode so effectively Q� destroys a node and ���creates a
� �� � � � �
�
�� ��� � W � � W ′ � � �� �� � W�x�� � � W�x��. (4) node. The spectra of the Hamiltonians can be derived from
√� √� ��
each other. This is especially useful if one of the problems
Now we introduce the “charge” operator and its adjoint by is exactly solvable or can be treated more easily than the
other by controlled approximations.
� � � � Since numerically 1D problem is a trivial one, it is of little
Q� � � � W�x�� , Q�� � �� �� � W�x��. (5)
√� �� √� importance if this elegant method is restricted to 1-
dimension. After all, a theoretical chemist deals with atoms
In terms of these charge operators one can construct sector- and molecules. An attempt has been made to incorporate
I Hamiltonian (H1) and sector–2 Hamiltonian (H2 ) as: more than one dimension or more than one distinguishable
� ��
particle[7,8,9]. Of course this road is not smooth ahead. We
H� � Q�� Q� ; with V� � �
�W � �x� � ��
� (6a) will give a cursory idea of this extension[9]. We first
and consider a 2-dimensional case. We start by defining a
H� � Q� Q�� ; with V� �
�
�W � �x� �
��
� (6b) vector superpotential as,
� ��

W ��lnψ��� .
���� � �� (12)
�� and �� are known as supersymmetric partner potential. �

Up to this point it looks rather circular and pointless to do

This can be written in terms of the components,
such algebra. But the situation changes when one identifies
the relationship between eigenvalue spectrum of two �W
��� � x�W� � y�W�
���
(13)
partner Hamiltonian. Suppose for n>0, �� is the
eigenstates of H1which satisfies the Schrodinger equation, This is a natural choice as the Laplacian operator in multi-
��� ��� ��� ���
dimension is a vector. With this super potential we
H �ψ� � Q�� Q� ψ� � E� ψ � . (7) construct the vector charge operator and its adjoint which is
again a natural extension of 1-dimensional case.
Now, right multiply equation (7) with �� and regroup the
charge operator to retrieve a Schrödinger equation but this ��� �
Q
�
�� ����� and �Q�� �
�� � W �
�� � W
��� ����� (14)
√� � √�
time involving Hamiltonian H2,
��� ��� ��� The components of the vector charge operators are,
Q�� �Q�ψ � � � E� �Q� ψ� � ; ��� Q�� � x�Q�� � y�Q��
Q� � x�Q � � y�Q� and������ (15)
��� ��� ���
⇒ H � �Q� ψ� � � E� �Q� ψ� � (8) Where
 � � � � in the framework of Raleigh-Ritz variational method. One
Q� � ��� � W� � and Q� � ��� � W� � (16)
√� √�
important thing to mention, this observation is independent
Sector I Hamiltonian is defined as dot product of two of basis set. Actually we are capitalizing the general
vector charge operators and this sector Hamiltonian is a behaviour of Raleigh-Ritz variational principle with regard
scalar. to accuracy and convergence rate for ground versus excited
states of a given Hamiltonian (Kouri et. al.[5]). In the next
���� . Q
H� � Q ��� (17) paragraph we have illustrated these aspects using a model
�
2-dimensional coupled oscillator.
Now, one cannot just flip the charge operator and take the We first take the ground state of the coupled oscillator
dot product but correct way to form the sector 2 as
Hamiltonian is to take a dyadic product of the charge (1)
operator in flipped order. This makes the second sector ψ0 (x, y) = Nexp(−x2 y2 − x2 − y2 ) (21)
Hamiltonian a tensor Hamiltonian and its eigenfunctions
are vector eigenfunctions This generates the components of the vector super potential
as
���� � �Q
H ����
��� Q (18)
W� � �2xy� � 2x�, W� � �2x� y � 2y� (22)
This sector-2 tensor Hamiltonian can be written explicitly
as The sector -1 scalar potential has the form

����� � �x�x�Q � Q�� � x�y�Q � Q�� � y V� �x, y� � �2xy� � 2x�� � �2yx� � 2y��
���� � �Q
H ��� Q � x�Q � Q�� � y�y�Q � Q�� � (19)
�2�x� � 1� � 2�y� � 1� (23)
Or alternatively in matrix form as,
We diagonalized both the sector Hamiltonians in a product
basis (harmonic oscillator basis in each dimension) and the
Q � Q�� Q � Q��
���
H� � � � (20) results are given in a table. 1.
Q � Q�� Q� Q��

Tensor Hamiltonian seems unwieldy and unlikely to lead sector 1 sector 2 sector1 sector 2 sector 1 sector 2
anywhere but it can be proved analytically it satisfies all Nx, Ny = Nx, Ny = Nx, Ny = Nx, Ny = Nx, Ny = Nx, Ny =
10 10 40 40 60 60
requirements to be a SUSY partner of scalar Hamiltonian.
To support our claim we give numerical results for 2
dimensional non separable coupled oscillators[9] in the -
next section. 9×10-2 - 4×10-7 - 5×10-9

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4.58472 4.58472 4.58472

4.6 4.5849 4.58473
75 75 742
Now, it is worthwhile to explore the possibility of taking
computational aspects of SUSY[4,5]. The idea stems from 8.00000 8.0000 8.00000
the fact that symmetry in quantum mechanics has long 8.3 8.005 8.00007
05 01 0005
been known to lead to significant computational
simplifications and advantages. One therefore can naturally
ask whether this general aspect of symmetry is also Table 1: Comparison of energy eigenvalues of sector 1 and
applicable for SUSY. Notice, if we determine the ground sector 2 for different number of basis functions.
state of sector 2 then we can repeat the SUSY procedure to The accuracy of the variational results are known for the
determine a third sector Hamiltonian as a partner of H2. ground state of sector one, since we know the ground state
This procedure can be continued until one exhausts all the energy of sector -1 is zero. Thus, the (10,10) basis gives
bound states supported by H1. Now, Raleigh-Ritz
an error of 9.0 � 10�� while the (60, 60) basis gives an
variational method, one of the cornerstones of quantum
error of 5.0 � 10 �� In the case of the first excited state of
chemistry, determines the ground state eigenfunction and
sector one, the error for the (10, 10) basis (computed
eigenvalue with highest accuracy and best rate of
relative to (60, 60) basis result) is 0.0634. By contrast, the
convergence. The rate of convergence is slow for the
error in the (10, 10) basis result for the sector two ground
excited states. At this point SUSY QM becomes a handy
state (again, relative to the (60, 60) basis result) is 2.2 �
tool. To calculate 1st excited state, first calculate ground
10�� . Consequently, the use of the sector two Hamiltonian
state of higher sector partner Hamiltonian by traditional
for a ground state calculation enables us to obtain much
variational method and then generate excited state by
improved accuracy for the first excitation energy of sector
applying suitable charge operator. This leads to an
one. Basically, we estimate an increase in accuracy
improvement in excited state energies and wavefunctions
(defined as the ratio of the accuracy of the sector one result
to that of the sector two result) to be a factor of 280. Our
exploratory calculation thus clearly reveals that for the
calculation of excited state energies, the SUSY-variational
method requires a smaller number of basis functions to
achieve the same order of accuracy. The occurrence of a
tensor sector Hamiltonian in the multidimensional SUSY
is, of course, an added computational cost to the approach.
This is mitigated, to some degree, by the fact that we never
must calculate an accurate wavefunction and energy except
for ground states. Presence of nodes (disturbing feature of
this method) in the tensor sector eigenstates prevents us
from extending the procedure to higher dimension. In the
figure (1a-b) we have shown the components of the
degenerate ground state sector -2 wavefunction.
[6] D. J. Kouri, T. Markovich, N. Maxwell, and B. G. Bodman,
“The Heisenberg−Weyl Algebra on the Circle and a Related
Quantum Mechanical Model for Hindered Rotation ,” Journal
of Physical Chemistry A, vol. 113, pp. 7698-7705 ,2009.
[7] A. A. Andrianov, N. V. Borisov and M. V. Ioffe,
“Factorization method and Darboux transformation for
multidimensional Hamiltonians,” Theoretical and
Mathematical Physics, vol. 61, pp. 1078-1088, 1984.
[8] A. A. Andrianov, N. V. Borisov and M. V. Ioffe, “The
Factorization Method and Quantum Systems with Equivalent
Energy Spectra ,” Physics. Letters A, vol. 105, pp. 19-22,
1984.
[9] D. J. Kouri, K. Maji, T. Markovich and E.R. Bittner, “New
Generalization of Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics to
Arbitrary Dimensionality or Number of Distinguishable
Particles ,” Journal of Physical Chemistry A, vol. 114, pp.
8202-8216, 2010.

(a) (b)
Fig. 1(a-b): represent the two components of one of the
degenerate sector-two ground states.

IV. CONCLUSION

To conclude, we can say it seems promising to apply this

elegant method to provide a route to find a better estimate
of the ground state energy and wavefunction within the
framework of traditional variational method with less
computational expense. For the multidimensional case, we
stress that this is the first formulation of a general SUSY
approach for multi-dimensional and/or multi-particle
systems. There remain many formal and computational
questions, which we are continuing to explore. Our main
conclusion is that there is sufficient promise that such
studies are justified.

REFERENCES

[1] F. Cooper, A. Khare and U. Sukhatme, “Supersymmetry and

Quantum Mechanics,” Physics Reports, vol. 251, pp. 267-
685, 1995.
[2] F. Schwabl, “Quantum Mechanics,” 5th Edition, Springer,
New York, 2007.
[3] G. Junker, “Supersymmetric Methods in Quantum and
Statistical Mechanics,” Springer-Verlag, New York, 1996.
[4] E. R. Bittner, J. B. Maddox and D. J. Kouri, “Supersymmetric
Approach to Excites States , and the Rayleigh−Ritz
Variational Principle:” Journal of Physical Chemistry A, vol.
113, pp. 15276-15280, 2009.
[5] D. J. Kouri, T. Markovich, N. Maxwell and E. R. Bittner,
“Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanic, Excited State Energies
and Wave Functions, A Proof of Principle Study ,” Journal of
Physical Chemistry A,.vol. 113, pp. 15257-15264, 2009.
���������������������������������������������������������������������������
���������������������������������������������������������������������������������
�����������������������������������������������������