The group‐theoretical structure of the harmonic oscillator appears in many guises. Originally developed by Marcos Moshinsky among several others for applications in nuclear physics, we point out here that the harmonic oscillator structure appears in aberrations of geometric optics, particularly in their classification by rank, symplectic spin and weight. And further, the finite harmonic oscillator appears again in the nonlinear transformations of finite Hamiltonian systems, when applied to the parallel processing of signals.
The group‐theoretical structure of the harmonic oscillator appears in many guises. Originally developed by Marcos Moshinsky among several others for applications in nuclear physics, we point out here that the harmonic oscillator structure appears in aberrations of geometric optics, particularly in their classification by rank, symplectic spin and weight. And further, the finite harmonic oscillator appears again in the nonlinear transformations of finite Hamiltonian systems, when applied to the parallel processing of signals.
In finite Hamiltonian systems, the operators of position, momentum, and energy have a finite number N of eigenvalues. These operators can be naturally realized as generators of the Lie algebra su(2), in a representation of spin j, of dimension N = 2j+1. Time evolution is rotation of a phase space sphere, whose projections perform the harmonic motion of an oscillator. The (centrally extended) group of rigid—linear—motions of this phase space is then U(2). On the other hand, N‐point wavefunctions—signals—can be subject to a U(N) group of unitary matrices, containing the linear U(2); aberrations are transformations outside that subgroup. As in geometric optics, we classify the aberration multiplets by order and weight. Their action on phase space is displayed by means of a Wigner function on the sphere, to be compared with the corresponding geometric canonical transformations.
Finite Hamiltonian systems contain operators of position, momentum, and energy, having a finite number N of equally-spaced eigenvalues. Such systems are under the æis of the algebra su(2), and their phase space is a sphere. Rigid motions of this phase space form the group SU(2); overall phases complete this to U(2). But since N-point states can be subject to U(N) ⊃U(2) transformations, the rest of the generators will provide all N 2 unitary transformations of the states, which appear as nonlinear transformations—aberrations—of the system phase space. They are built through the “finite quantization” of a classical optical system.
The three-dimensional harmonic oscillator plays a central role in nuclear physics. It provides the underlying structure of the independent-particle shell model and gives rise to the dynamical group structures on which models of nuclear collective motion are based. It is shown that the three-dimensional harmonic oscillator features a rich variety of coherent states, including vibrations of the monopole, dipole, and quadrupole types, and rotations of the rigid flow, vortex flow, and irrotational flow types. Nuclear collective states exhibit all of these flows. It is also shown that the coherent state representations, which have their origins in applications to the dynamical groups of the simple harmonic oscillator, can be extended to vector coherent state representations with a much wider range of applicability. As a result, coherent state theory and vector coherent state theory become powerful tools in the application of algebraic methods in physics.
Abstract In classical mechanics the harmonic oscillator (HO) provides the generic example for the use of angle and action variables and I > 0 which played a prominent role in the “old” Bohr‐Sommerfeld quantum theory. However, already classically there is a problem which has essential implications for the quantum mechanics of the (φ,I)‐model for the HO: the transformation is only locally symplectic and singular for (q,p) = (0,0). Globally the phase space {(q,p)} has the topological structure of the plane ℝ2, whereas the phase space {(φ,I)} corresponds globally to the punctured plane ℝ2 ‐(0,0) or to a simple cone with the tip deleted. From the properties of the symplectic transformations on that phase space one can derive the functions h0 = I, h1 = Icos φ and h2 = ‐Isin φ as the basic coordinates on {(φ,I)}, where their Poisson brackets obey the Lie algebra of the symplectic group of the plane. This implies a qualitative difference as to the quantum theory of the phase space {(φ,I)} compared to the usual one for {(q,p)}: In the quantum mechanics for the (φ,I)‐model of the HO the three hj correspond to the self‐adjoint generators Kj, j = 0,1,2, of certain irreducible unitary representations of the symplectic group or one of its infinitely many covering groups, the representations being parametrized by a (Bargmann) index k > 0. This index k determines the ground state energy of the (φ,I)‐Hamiltonian . For an m‐fold covering the lowest possible value for k is k = 1/m, which can be made arbitrarily small by choosing m accordingly! This is not in contradiction to the usual approach in terms of the operators Q and P which are now expressed as functions of the Kj, but keep their usual properties. The richer structure of the Kj quantum model of the HO is “erased” when passing to the simpler (Q,P)‐model! This more refined approach to the quantum theory of the HO implies many experimental tests: Mulliken‐type experiments for isotopic diatomic molecules, experiments with harmonic traps for atoms, ions and BE‐condensates, with charged HOs in external electric fields and the (Landau) levels of charged particles in external magnetic fields, with the propagation of light in vacuum, passing through strong external electric or magnetic fields. Finally it may lead to a new theoretical estimate for the quantum vacuum energy of fields and its relation to the cosmological constant.
In classical mechanics the harmonic oscillator (HO) provides the generic example for the use of angle and action variables and I > 0 which played a prominent role in the “old” Bohr-Sommerfeld quantum theory. However, already classically there is a problem which has essential implications for the quantum mechanics of the (φ,I)-model for the HO: the transformation is only locally symplectic and singular for (q,p) = (0,0). Globally the phase space {(q,p)} has the topological structure of the plane ℝ2, whereas the phase space {(φ,I)} corresponds globally to the punctured plane ℝ2 -(0,0) or to a simple cone with the tip deleted. From the properties of the symplectic transformations on that phase space one can derive the functions h0 = I, h1 = Icos φ and h2 = -Isin φ as the basic coordinates on {(φ,I)}, where their Poisson brackets obey the Lie algebra of the symplectic group of the plane. This implies a qualitative difference as to the quantum theory of the phase space {(φ,I)} compared to the usual one for {(q,p)}: In the quantum mechanics for the (φ,I)-model of the HO the three hj correspond to the self-adjoint generators Kj, j = 0,1,2, of certain irreducible unitary representations of the symplectic group or one of its infinitely many covering groups, the representations being parametrized by a (Bargmann) index k > 0. This index k determines the ground state energy of the (φ,I)-Hamiltonian . For an m-fold covering the lowest possible value for k is k = 1/m, which can be made arbitrarily small by choosing m accordingly! This is not in contradiction to the usual approach in terms of the operators Q and P which are now expressed as functions of the Kj, but keep their usual properties. The richer structure of the Kj quantum model of the HO is “erased” when passing to the simpler (Q,P)-model! This more refined approach to the quantum theory of the HO implies many experimental tests: Mulliken-type experiments for isotopic diatomic molecules, experiments with harmonic traps for atoms, ions and BE-condensates, with charged HOs in external electric fields and the (Landau) levels of charged particles in external magnetic fields, with the propagation of light in vacuum, passing through strong external electric or magnetic fields. Finally it may lead to a new theoretical estimate for the quantum vacuum energy of fields and its relation to the cosmological constant.
A simple harmonic oscillator, or oscillator in short, is one of the most important systems in physics as well as in quantum mechanics. The path integral and Hamiltonian of a simple harmonic oscillator are leading exemplars for the description of a wide class of physical systems. An oscillator is a theoretical model of great utility, primarily due to its simplicity that allows for the exact derivation of many results. The simple harmonic oscillator can be generalized to the case of infinitely many oscillators, and is also the starting point for analysis of many nonlinear quantum systems. Path integrals for the simple harmonic oscillator are all based on Gaussian integration, which has been discussed in Section 7.2. The harmonic oscillator is described by Gaussian path integrals , and is a bedrock of the general theory of path integration. Moreover, all perturbation expansions of nonlinear path integrals about the oscillator path integral, which includes the semi-classical expansion, are based on results of Gaussian integration. The properties of the harmonic oscillator are analyzed in the coordinate space representation, and its path integral as well as its correlation functions are analyzed. All formulas and derivations are for Euclidean time. In Sections 11.1 and 11.2 the Hamiltonian and state space of the oscillator are studied and the correlator is derived using state space methods. In Section 11.2 the infinite time oscillator is introduced and in Sections 11.3–11.5 the path integral for the oscillator is evaluated.