The time evolution of the time-dependent harmonic oscillator is studied by a sequence of unitary transformations and the exact evolving state for the system is obtained. A specific model of frequency variation for the time-dependent harmonic oscillator is discussed as an illustrative example.
For a harmonic oscillator with time-dependent (positive) mass and frequency, a unitary operator is shown to transform the quantum states of the system to those of a harmonic oscillator system of unit mass and time-dependent frequency, as well as operators. For a driven harmonic oscillator, a unitary transformation which relates the driven system and a system of the same mass and frequency without a driving force is given, as a generalization of previous results, in terms of the solution of classical equation of motion of the driven system. Thus transformations give a simple way of finding exact wavefunctions of a driven harmonic oscillator system, provided the quantum states of the corresponding system of unit mass are given.
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.
Using the Ermakov-Lewis invariants appearing in KvN mechanics, the time-dependent frequency harmonic oscillator is studied. The analysis builds upon the operational dynamical model, from which it is possible to infer quantum or classical dynamics; thus, the mathematical structure governing the evolution will be the same in both cases. The Liouville operator associated with the time-dependent frequency harmonic oscillator can be transformed using an Ermakov-Lewis invariant, which is also time dependent and commutes with itself at any time. Finally, because the solution of the Ermakov equation is involved in the evolution of the classical state vector, we explore some analytical and numerical solutions.
In this work we present the classical and quantum solutions of time-dependent coupled harmonic oscillators. In these systems the masses, frequencies and coupling parameter (k) are functions of time. Four systems are investigated. To obtain the classical solutions we use a coordinate and momentum transformations along with a canonical transformation to write the original Hamiltonian as the sum of two Hamiltonians of uncoupled harmonic oscillators with modified time-dependent frequencies and unitary masses. We find the analytical expression for position and velocity of each oscillator of the systems. To obtain the exact quantum solutions we use a unitary transformation and the Lewis and Riesenfeld invariant method. The wave functions obtained are written in terms of a c-number quantity () which is solution of the Milne-Pinney equation. For each system we solve the respective Milne-Pinney equation and discuss how the quantum fluctuations and the uncertainty product evolve with time.