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Acta Physica Polonica A

Relativistic Generalizations of the Quantum Harmonic Oscillator

A. Poszwa

Published Dec 1, 2014• 11 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of the spin-less relativistic particle subject to an external eld of a harmonic oscillator potential.The KleinGordon equation with one-and three-dimensional vector and scalar parabolic potentials is solved using the expansion of the wavefunction in properly selected basis-sets.The resonance states are determined using the complex coordinate rotation method.The analytic expressions for the rst-and secondorder relativistic energy corrections are derived perturbatively.The relativistic model of the harmonic oscillator in the momentum representation, originally proposed by Znojil, is also discussed.

DOI
10.12693/aphyspola.126.1226

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We investigate the dynamics of the spin-less relativistic particle subject to an external eld of a harmonic oscillator potential.The KleinGordon equation with one-and three-dimensional vector and scalar parabolic potentials is solved using the expansion of the wavefunction in properly selected basis-sets.The resonance states are determined using the complex coordinate rotation method.The analytic expressions for the rst-and secondorder relativistic energy corrections are derived perturbatively.The relativistic model of the harmonic oscillator in the momentum representation, originally proposed by Znojil, is also discussed.
Quantum relativistic solutions for a particle in a one-dimensional Morse potential are presented using methods previously proposed and applied to a particle in a harmonic oscillator. The methods lead to both numerical and analytical solutions, with the latter allowing smooth variation of the system parameters from non-relativistic to ultrarelativistic limits. Analytical expressions for the energy levels and wavefunctions are obtained, as solutions to a Schrödinger-type equation, including relativistic effects through a state dependent rescaled mass. The eigenstates of the Morse potential exhibit suitable and smooth behavior, and approach the corresponding harmonic oscillator solutions as the depth of the Morse potential well increases, as expected. A comparison is also presented between the relativistic harmonic oscillator obtained with this method, and the so-called Klein-Gordon oscillator.
The Klein Gordon equation for the harmonic oscillator may be written as (E-.5kx2)2=p2+mo2 ((1)) where mo is the rest mass and p the relativistic momentum. In the literature, it is argued that the resulting x4 term dominates for large x and prevents the Klein Gordon equation from being solved for bound states. As a result, it is replaced with an equation of the form: (E2-mo2) = (p-imwx)(p+imw) ((2)) where p=-ihbar d/dx in one dimension which may be solved exactly. Recently, the authors of (1) have used perturbation theory to calculate energy changes to ((1)) by using -.5V2 - e2 +2eV as a perturbative potential where V=.5kx2 and E=e+mo. They utilise the unperturbed wavefunction exp(-ax2) so large x4 values are damped. Their results are close to the exact calculations of ((2)) for the case of k=1 and m=1. In this note, we argue that for an oscillator there are classical turning points at which the quantum average kinetic energy -1/2m d/dx d/dx W should be zero and small nearby even if the average kinetic energy near x=0 corresponds to relativistic momenta. Thus, it is argued there are different spatial regions, each with its own quantum equation. The Schrodinger equation may be applied to regions near the classical turning point moving to infinite. In such a case, there is no issue with an x4 term. Near x=0, the full Klein Gordon equation ((1)) may be applied. There are questions of then matching the two sets of solutions. In this note, we attempt to investigate this scenario and compare results with those of (1) and (2). (1) and (2) suggest similar relativistic corrections to the nonrelativistic ground state oscillator energy of more than 20%. In this note, we suggest a smaller value.
The exact bound-state wavefunctions and the corresponding energy equation are calculated for a new generalized harmonic oscillator problem describing a spin-1/2 fermion in 3+1-dimensions, involving scalar, vector, and tensor couplings acting simultaneously within a particular plane of motion. For the scalar and vector coupling, singular harmonic oscillator shapes are considered, such that the singular term is needed to allow analytical solutions for the wavefunctions while preserving binding under adequate conditions. For the tensor sector,the Dirac oscillator potential is employed, which adds another independent binding mechanism to the problem. The exact bound-state solutions are computed by specifically tuning coefficients for an appropriate pair of \textit{Ansätze} for the radial functions, which leads to wavefunctions in terms of generalized Laguerre polynomials. Although the energy equation cannot provide a general expression for the energy spectrum, specific constraints on the quantum numbers as simple functions of the external potential parameters can be derived for it, which determines the conditions for bound solutions to exist, and of what type: particle, antiparticle or both. It is shown that the results can be simply mapped to the spherically symmetric analogue problem, and this is used to show that the general result encompass several previous particular cases of spherically symmetric harmonic oscillator problems in the Dirac equation available in the literature.
For the Dirac equation in one space dimension, we examine the possibility of harmonic oscillator (HO) potentials. A HO potential is such that it has only bound states and the energy levels are equally spaced. Regarding their Lorentz transformation properties, there are three types of potentials for the Dirac equation: vector, scalar, and pseudoscalar. HO potentials are possible for the scalar and pseudoscalar types, but not for the vector type. We show how HO potentials can be constructed by means of the ``inverse scattering method.'' We also examine the behavior of a wave packet in the HO potentials so constructed. The behavior is, in most of the cases, very similar to that of Schr\"odinger's coherent wave packet of the nonrelativistic harmonic oscillator.