Taking the Road Less Traveled: Solving the One-Dimensional Quantum Oscillator using the Parabolic-Cylinder Equation

Abstract

The single well 1D harmonic oscillator is one of the most fundamental and commonly solved problems in quantum mechanics. Traditionally, in most introductory quantum mechanics textbooks, it is solved using either a power series method, which ultimately leads to the Hermite polynomials, or by ladder operators methods. We show here that, by employing one straightforward variable transformation, this problem can be solved, and the resulting state functions can be given in terms of parabolic cylinder functions. Additionally, the same approach can be used to solve the Schrödinger equation for the 1D harmonic oscillator in a uniform electric field. In this case, the process yields two possible solutions. One is the well-known result where the 1D oscillator eigenvalues are reduced by a frequency-dependent term, which can have any positive value. The other is where the field term is restricted to be an integer and the eigenvalues are in the same form as for the field-free case. We show how the results can be used to create a harmonic approximation for the bound states of a Lennard-Jones potential.