SIMPLE HARMONIC OSCILLATOR

When a particle oscillates about its mean position along a straight line under the action of a force
which (i) is directed towards the mean postion and (ii) is proportional to the displacement at any
instant from this position, the motion of the particle is said to be simple harmonic and the oscillating
particle is called a simple harmonic oscillator, or a linear harmonic oscillator.

The harmonic oscillator is an important example of periodic motion. At temperatures abobve 0oK,
the atoms in a crystal or temporarily displaced from their normal postions in the structure, due to
absorption of thermal energy. Consiquently inter-atmoc forces obeying Hooke’s Law act on the
displaced artoms. Under the action of such restoring forces each atom vibrates about its norlmal
postion which is the correct position in the ideal structure. Thus the vibrations of the each atom are
similar to those of a simple harmonic oscillator.

Classical Treatment of a Linear Hormonic Oscillator

(a) Expression for frequency of linear harmonic oscillator

In the simple harmonic oscillator, the force tending to restore the particle to its equilibrium position
is always directed towards the equilibrium position, and directly proportional to the displacement (x)
from it. Thus,

(1)

where, k = force constant and x = displacement and minus sign indicates that restoring force is
working in the direction opposite to the displacement

If, m = mass of the particle and F = Mass x acceleration

then
(2)

from equation (1) and (2)

(3)

As the displacement ( ) is harmonic, it can be expressed as,

 (4)

Where = Amplitude of vibration

= Frequency of oscillation

Differentiating equation (4) w.r.t (double differentiation),

(5)

(6)

Putting the values of ( ) from equation (4) in (6), we get

Or

(7)

Hence

(8)

Equation (8) gives the frequency of the linear harmonic oscillator.

(b) Expression for potential energy (V) of linear harmonic oscillator

Suppose the spring represents a chemical bond. The work done in stretching the spring increases the
potential energy of the system. If the potential energy for the equilibrium length of the spring (or
chemical bond) is assumed to be zero, that for other length is given by,

But

Therefore

(9)

Where x = the distance from the equilibrium length.

The plot of potential energy of a particle executing linear harmonic motion against displacement
from eqilibrium position is a parabola as shown in the following figure.
 Fig. Potential energy diagram for a simple harmonic oscillator

(c) wave equation for the harmonic oscillator

The time-dependent Schrodinger wave equation for linear motion of a particle along the x-axis is:

or (10)

where E is the total energy of the particle, V the potential energy, and the wave function for the
particle, which is a function of alone.

For a linear oscillator along the x-axis with the angular frequency ω under a restoring force
proportional to the displacement x, the potential energy is given by:

(11)

Substituting the value of V in equation (10) we get,

(12)

Or, (13)

This is the Schrodinger wave equation for the oscillator

(d) Simplification of the wave equation for the harmonic oscillator

To simplify the equation (13) we introduce a dimensionless independent variable “y” which is
related to “ ” by the equation

(14)

Show that

Where
Now we have

and

or (15)

substituting the value of and in equation (13), we get

Dividing through by

Or (16)

Or where (17)

solution of equation (17)

In order to solve the equation (17), it is useful to determine the asymptotic behaviour of its solution
first. For large value of ‘y’ (y>> ), the equation (17) is reduced to

(18)

Thus, (19)

Therefore we may conclude that for large values of ‘y’, the solutions of equation (17) behave
asymptotically like . The solution that behaves like is not sutaible since it tends to
infinity when . Therefore, the solution of equation (17) should behave asymptotically like
. Therefore, to solve equation (17), we substitute

Or simply
hence equation (17) becomes

Or

(20)

Equation (20) is identical with Hermite’s differential equation,

If we equate

where n is non-negative integers, i.e n=0, 1, 2, …….

(21)

The general solution of equation (20) is given as;

(22)

where ‘ ’ is a normalization constant and represents the Hermite polynomial of

degree ‘n’ defined by

(23)

From equation (22) the constant can be determined from the normalization condition

Since , therefore

Therefore

Or
But from the orthogonality condition of hermite polynomials

Therefore,

Or

(24)

Thus the normalized wave functions of Harmonic Oscillator are

(25)

Or

(26)

Or

(27)

(d) Eigen values of the total energy En for the harmonic oscillator

The wave equation for the oscillator is satisfied only for discrete values of total energies given by,

Or

Substituting and , this expression has the form:

 (28)

where, n=0, 1, 2, …… Thus the energies of the oscillator are determined by the vibrational quantum
number ‘n’.

discussion on eigen values of the total energy En

from equation (28) we get

1) The lowest energy of the oscillator is obtained by putting n=0 in equation (28) and it is
. This is called the ground state energy or zero point vibrational energy of the
harmonic oscillator. The zero point energy is the characteristic result of quantum mechanics.
The values of in terms of are given by where n = 0, 1, 2, ……
2) The eigen values of the total energies depend on the quantum number ‘n’. therefore all the
energy levels of the oscillator are non-degenerate.
3) The successive energy levels are equally spaced : the speration between two successive
energy levels being . The energy level diagram for the hormic oscillator is shown in the
following figure.

Fig. the wave functions, the probability function and the energy levels of a simple harmonic oscillator
The values of Hermite polynomials of different orders (n values) as obtained from equation (22) are
recorded in the following table.

n (order) Hermite polynomial ‘ ’