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arXiv:1210.4058 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical

Symmetries of the quantum damped harmonic oscillator

J Guerrero, Francisco F. López-Ruiz, V. Aldaya, F Cossío

Published Nov 8, 2012• 14 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

For the non-conservative Caldirola–Kanai system, describing a quantum damped harmonic oscillator, a couple of constant-of-motion operators generating the Heisenberg–Weyl algebra can be found. The inclusion of the standard time evolution generator (which is not a symmetry) as a symmetry in this algebra, in a unitary manner, requires a non-trivial extension of this basic algebra and hence of the physical system itself. Surprisingly, this extension leads directly to the so-called Bateman dual system, which now includes a new particle acting as an energy reservoir. In addition, the Caldirola–Kanai dissipative system can be retrieved by imposing constraints. The algebra of symmetries of the dual system is presented, as well as a quantization that implies, in particular, a first-order Schrödinger equation. As opposed to other approaches, where it is claimed that the spectrum of the Bateman Hamiltonian is complex and discrete, we obtain that it is real and continuous, with infinite degeneracy in all regimes.

DOI
10.1088/1751-8113/45/47/475303

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For the non-conservative Caldirola–Kanai system, describing a quantum damped harmonic oscillator, a couple of constant-of-motion operators generating the Heisenberg–Weyl algebra can be found. The inclusion of the standard time evolution generator (which is not a symmetry) as a symmetry in this algebra, in a unitary manner, requires a non-trivial extension of this basic algebra and hence of the physical system itself. Surprisingly, this extension leads directly to the so-called Bateman dual system, which now includes a new particle acting as an energy reservoir. In addition, the Caldirola–Kanai dissipative system can be retrieved by imposing constraints. The algebra of symmetries of the dual system is presented, as well as a quantization that implies, in particular, a first-order Schrödinger equation. As opposed to other approaches, where it is claimed that the spectrum of the Bateman Hamiltonian is complex and discrete, we obtain that it is real and continuous, with infinite degeneracy in all regimes.
For the Caldirola-Kanai system, describing a quantum damped harmonic oscillator, a couple of constant-of-motion operators generating the Heisenberg algebra can be found. The inclusion of the standard time evolution symmetry in this algebra for damped systems, in a unitary manner, requires a non-trivial extension of this basic algebra and hence the physical system itself. Surprisingly, this extension leads directly to the so-called Bateman's dual system, which now includes a new particle acting as an energy reservoir. The group of symmetries of the dual system is presented, as well as a quantization that implies, in particular, a first-order Schrödinger equation. The usual second-order equation and the inclusion of the original Caldirola-Kanai model in Bateman's system are also discussed.
For the quantum Caldirola-Kanai Hamiltonian, describing a quantum damped harmonic oscillator, a couple of constant of motion operators generating the Heisenberg algebra can be found. The inclusion in this algebra, in a unitary manner, of the standard time evolution generator , which is not a constant of motion, requires a non-trivial extension of this basic algebra and the physical system itself, which now includes a new dual particle. This enlarged algebra, when exponentiated, leads to a group, named the Bateman group, which admits unitary representations with support in the Hilbert space of functions satisfying the Schrodinger equation associated with the quantum Bateman Hamiltonian, either as a second order differential operator as well as a first order one. The classical Bateman Hamiltonian describes a dual system of a damped (losing energy) particle and a dual (gaining energy) particle. The classical Bateman system has a solution submanifold containing the trajectories of the original system as a submanifold. When restricted to this submanifold, the Bateman dual classical Hamiltonian leads to the Caldirola-Kanai Hamiltonian for a single damped particle. This construction can also be done at the quantum level, and the Caldirola-Kanai Hamiltonian operator can be derived from the Bateman Hamiltonian operator when appropriate constraints are imposed.
Using a quantum version of the Arnold transformation of classical mechanics, all quantum dynamical systems whose classical equations of motion are non-homogeneous linear second-order ordinary differential equations (LSODE), including systems with friction linear in velocity such as the damped harmonic oscillator, can be related to the quantum free-particle dynamical system. This implies that symmetries and simple computations in the free particle can be exported to the LSODE-system. The quantum Arnold transformation is given explicitly for the damped harmonic oscillator, and an algebraic connection between the Caldirola-Kanai model for the damped harmonic oscillator and the Bateman system will be sketched out.
Quantization of a damped harmonic oscillator leads to so called Bateman's dual system. The corresponding Bateman's Hamiltonian, being a self-adjoint operator, displays the discrete family of complex eigenvalues. We show that they correspond to the poles of energy eigenvectors and the corresponding resolvent operator when continued to the complex energy plane. Therefore, the corresponding generalized eigenvectors may be interpreted as resonant states which are responsible for the irreversible quantum dynamics of a damped harmonic oscillator.
Bateman's dual oscillator embeds a damped harmonic oscillator and an independent anti-damped adjoint coordinate in a conservative doubled system. We develop a split-quaternionic formulation that remains consistent from the classical equations through ordinary complex canonical quantization. The doubled dynamics is written as a two-sided hypercomplex evolution whose conserved indefinite quadratic form is the split norm, while the sign of the generator square unifies the underdamped, overdamped, and critical regimes. The Bateman Lagrangian is recovered as a real scalar action on the split-complex configuration subalgebra. After quantization, operator-valued split quaternions belong to the complexified algebra C⊗RHs≃M2(C)\mathbb C\otimes_{\mathbb R}\mathbb H_s\simeq M_2(\mathbb C)C⊗R​Hs​≃M2​(C). Noncommuting mechanical components require a symmetrized quantum split norm, which exactly reproduces the symmetrically ordered canonical Hamiltonian. Null idempotents resolve the crossed canonical structure of the doubled phase space. In particular, damping yields [my^˙,mx^˙]=iℏmγ[m\dot{\widehat y},m\dot{\widehat x}]=\mathrm{i}\hbar mγ[my​˙​,mx˙]=iℏmγ and a Robertson--Schrödinger uncertainty relation. The limit γ→0γ\to0γ→0 retains the doubled positive/negative geometry; the ordinary single-oscillator Heisenberg relation is recovered only after selecting the positive normal mode, or by undoubling before quantization. The scalar split action gives the exact quadratic propagator and Gaussian evolution. A formal trace over the auxiliary coordinate is finally compared with high-temperature Caldeira--Leggett dynamics, clarifying that the doubled model is a coherent zero-noise embedding rather than a microscopic reservoir theory.
We apply the Noether symmetry condition to the time-dependent conformal Lagrangian L=A(t)12gijx˙ix˙j−KV(x) with focus on the damped harmonic oscillator in Euclidean space, where (A(t)=eγt and V(x) is the oscillator potential. The Noether symmetries are generated by the homothetic algebra of the Euclidean metric and yield a complete classification of invariants. A key result is a family of conserved quantities parameterized by a constant D≠2, related to the potential multiplier K via the resonance condition K=−2γ2D/(D−2)2. This family includes the Bateman invariant as the special case D=−4. We demonstrate that the Ray-Reid method for constructing invariants via an auxiliary variable corresponds precisely to the choices D=1 and D=4 within our symmetry-based approach. Furthermore, each invariant in the family leads to a distinct quantum Hamiltonian via canonical quantization, resulting in different time-dependent effective masses and decoherence rates. The parameter D thus controls the quantum evolution of the damped oscillator, offering a unified framework that generalizes the Kanai–Caldirola and Bateman models and provides new experimentally testable predictions.