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Canadian Journal of Physics

On classical and quantum harmonic potentials

Pirooz Mohazzabi

Published Jan 1, 2000• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

To date, the only potential energy function that has been demonstrated to be classical harmonic but not quantum harmonic is that of the asymmetrically matched harmonic oscillator. By investigating the accurate quantum mechanical energy levels of the potential V = V0 [Formula: see text], we demonstrate that this is the second member of the class. PACS No.: 03.65Ge

DOI
10.1139/cjp-78-10-937

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Canadian Journal of Physics•Aug 1, 2002•12 citations
To date, the only potential energy function that has been demonstrated to be classical harmonic but not quantum harmonic is that of the asymmetrically matched harmonic oscillator. By investigating the accurate quantum mechanical energy levels of the potential V = V0 [Formula: see text], we demonstrate that this is the second member of the class. PACS No.: 03.65Ge
The first application of quantum ideas to a system with a nonuniform potential energy is to the harmonic oscillator: a pendulum, or a mass on a spring. The result is a quantization of energy with equally spaced energy levels. The wave function is localized in the potential well but can do quantum tunneling beyond the turning points into classically forbidden regions. A wave function can be a negative quantity, but the related position probability is always positive. The wave function shows the particle is not in any single place; in a sense it is in many places simultaneously. The fact that the lowest energy quantum state does not vanish is an example of zero-point energy. States of very high energy show a strong analogy to classical oscillator behavior, an example of the Bohr correspondence principle.
We discuss the solutions of the Schroedinger equation for piecewise potentials, given by the harmonic oscillator potential for |x|>a and by an arbitrary function for |x|<a, using elementary methods. The study of this problem sheds light on usual errors made in discussions of the asymptotic behavior of the eigenfunctions of the quantum harmonic oscillator and can also be used for the analysis of the eigenfunctions of the hydrogen atom. We present explicit results for the energy levels of a potential of this class, used to model the confinement of electrons in nanostructures.
We derive the energy levels associated with the even-parity wavefunctions of the harmonic oscillator with an additional delta-function potential at the origin. Our results bring to the attention of students a non-trivial and analytical example of a modification of the usual harmonic oscillator potential, with emphasis on the modification of the boundary conditions at the origin. This problem calls the attention of the students to an inaccurate statement in quantum mechanics textbooks often found in the context of the solution of the harmonic oscillator problem.
An asymmetric double-well potential is considered, assuming that the minima of the wells are quadratic with a frequency ω and the difference of the minima is close to a multiple of �ω. A WKB wave function is constructed on both sides of the local maximum between the wells, by matching the WKB function to the exact wave functions near the classical turning points. The continuities of the wave function and its first derivative at the local maximum then give the energy-level splitting formula, which not only reproduces the instanton result for a symmetric potential, but also elucidates the appearance of resonances of tunneling in the asymmetric potential. Key words: quantum tunneling, energy splitting, double-well potential PACS: 03.65.Sq, 03.65.Ge, 82.20.Xr 1