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American Journal of Physics

Quantum Theory of the Forced Harmonic Oscillator

D.M. Gilbey, F. O. Goodman

Published Feb 1, 1966• 14 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A unified treatment by the methods of the operator mechanics is given of the quantum theory of the harmonic oscillator subjected to an applied force which is a given, but arbitrary, function of time. Few of the results are new, and most have appeared before scattered among papers devoted to a variety of topics and using a variety of mathematical techniques. Emphasis is placed on numerical methods for the evaluation of the relevant transition probabilities, and on the equality, under certain conditions, of the classical and quantum values of the average energy transfer to an oscillator by an impressed force. Generating functions for the transition probabilities are derived. Some numerical results are presented for illustration.

DOI
10.1119/1.1972813

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The Journal of Chemical Physics•May 15, 1983•7 citations
A unified treatment by the methods of the operator mechanics is given of the quantum theory of the harmonic oscillator subjected to an applied force which is a given, but arbitrary, function of time. Few of the results are new, and most have appeared before scattered among papers devoted to a variety of topics and using a variety of mathematical techniques. Emphasis is placed on numerical methods for the evaluation of the relevant transition probabilities, and on the equality, under certain conditions, of the classical and quantum values of the average energy transfer to an oscillator by an impressed force. Generating functions for the transition probabilities are derived. Some numerical results are presented for illustration.
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.
The interaction picture of quantum mechanics is used to calculate the unitary time development operator for a harmonic oscillator subject to an arbitrary time-dependent force. The result is identical to that obtained from the more usual method of the Heisenberg equations of motion, except for a phase factor which the Heisenberg picture method is unable to determine. A simplified derivation of the phase factor is given in the adiabatic limit, as well as a discussion of some possible physical effects which would depend upon the phase factor.
Transition probabilities for the forced, undamped quantum harmonic oscillator are obtained by expressing S-matrix elements entirely in terms of Heisenberg states and operators. The application of this method to this elementary-field theoretic model provides a simple example of the contraction technique of modern field theory whereby particles are converted into their corresponding currents. This problem was recently analyzed in the interaction picture from a pedagogical point of view and the treatment presented here is given in the same spirit.
Abstract By selecting a right generalized coordinate X, which contains the general solutions of the classical motion equation of a forced damped harmonic oscillator, we obtain a simple Hamiltonian which does not contain time for the oscillator such that Schrödinger equation and its solutions can be directly written out in X representation. The wave functin in x representation are also given with the help of the eigenfunctions of the operator X^ \hat X X^ in x representation. The evolution of ⟨x^⟩ \left\langle {\hat x} \right\rangle ⟨x^⟩ is the same as in the classical mechanics, and the uncertainty in position is independent of an external influence; one part of energy mean is quantized and attenuated, and the other is equal to the classical energy.