We discuss time evolution operator for N interacting quantum harmonic oscillators and determine certain conditions under which an explicit closed-form expression can be found for this time-ordered operator. The special case of N=2 is discussed, as an example.
We study the time evolution of two coupled quantum harmonic oscillators interacting through nonlinear optomechanical-like Hamiltonians that include cross-Kerr interactions. We employ techniques developed to decouple the time-evolution operator and obtain the analytical solution for the time evolution of the system. We apply these results to obtain explicit expressions of a few quantities of interest. Our results do not require approximations and therefore allow to study the nature and implications of the full nonlinearity of the system. Potential applications and extensions to optomechanics are also discussed.
The time evolution of a quantum harmonic oscillator with a series of sudden jumps of the mass or the frequency is determined in the form of a recursion relation. An approximating method is developed for determining the time evolution of harmonic oscillators with arbitrary derivable functions of the frequency or the mass. The approximate solution is shown to tend to the analytical one in the limiting case. As a demonstration of the approximating method, the solution of the problem of damped oscillation in the square of the oscillator frequency is presented.
We study the time evolution of two coupled quantum harmonic oscillators interacting through nonlinear optomechanical-like Hamiltonians that include cross-Kerr interactions. We employ techniques developed to decouple the time-evolution operator and obtain the analytical solution for the time evolution of the system. We apply these results to obtain explicit expressions of a few quantities of interest. Our results do not require approximations and therefore allow us to study the nature and implications of the full nonlinearity of the system. As a potential application, we show that it is possible to greatly increase the population of phonons using a suitable combination of cubic and cross-Kerr interactions.
We use the evolution operator method to describe time-dependent quadratic quantum systems in the framework of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. For simplicity, we consider a free particle with a variable mass M(t), a particle with a variable mass M(t) in an alternating homogeneous field, and a harmonic oscillator with a variable mass M(t) and frequency ω(t) subject to a variable force F(t). To construct the evolution operators for these systems in an explicit disentangled form, we use a simple technique to find the general solution of a certain class of differential and finite-difference nonstationary Schrödinger-type equations of motion and also the operator identities of the Baker–Campbell–Hausdorff type. With known evolution operators, we can easily find the most general form of the propagators, invariants of any order, and wave functions and establish a unitary relation between systems. Results known in the literature follow from the obtained general results as particular cases.
In this paper we introduce an alternative approach to studying the evolution of a quantum harmonic oscillator subject to an arbitrary time dependent force. With the purpose of finding the evolution operator, certain unitary transformations are applied successively to Schrödinger's equation reducing it to its simplest form. Therefore, instead of solving the original Schrödinger's partial differential equation in time and space the problem is replaced by a system of ordinary differential equations. From the obtained evolution operator we workout the propagator. Even though we illustrate the use of unitary transformations on the solution of a forced harmonic oscillator, the method presented here might be used to solve more complex systems. The present work addresses many aspects regarding unitary transformations and the dynamics of a forced quantum harmonic oscillator that should be useful for students and tutors of the quantum mechanics courses at the senior undergraduate and graduate level.