For many problems a solution in the Heisenberg picture is straightforward, but the Schrodinger picture solution is difficult, although presumably it is possible. A good example is the driven harmonic oscillator. The equations of motion are easy to solve when the driving force is periodic. The Hamiltonian can be reduced to time-independent form and the evolution operator is easy to write down as a single exponential. To work out the transition probability from one number state to another, it is necessary to decompose the exponential. As well as the Baker-Hausdorff formula, other operator techniques are used together with the coherent-state projection operator, to solve the problem.
We present simple explicit coordinate transformations which serve to decouple the Schrödinger equation for a pair of (not necessarily identical) harmonic oscillators in the presence of bilinear perturbing potentials. We derive general conditions for the decoupling, and give some examples of physical interest. These include the much studied example with just a static perturbation, the parallel problem with a dynamic coupling term, and the classic example of an isotropic two-dimensional oscillator in a transverse magnetic field, first solved by Fock (1928) by separation of variables.
A simple prescription for quantizing fields is developed and applied to the sytsem of interacting spins in an electromagnetic field. The classical equations of motion are written in the standard form $\ensuremath{-}i(\frac{d}{\mathrm{dt}})|V〉+\mathfrak{M}|V〉=0$, where the state vector
∣V〉 has the state variables, such as the generalized coordinates and momenta, as its components, and the time development operator
M contains derivative, integral, and matrix operators in general. By diagonalizing
M and replacing the resulting classical variables with operators obeying boson commutation relations, the system is quantized, and the Hamiltonian and Heisenberg equations of motion are automatically cast into the harmonic-oscillator form. Thus the quantization is reduced to the simple problem of diagonalizing a matrix. This avoids the laborious process of finding a Lagrangian density (by trial and error in general), determining the canonical variables, forming the Hamiltonian density, and inventing transformations to creation and annihilation operators. Problems with zero-frequency modes, which can be annoying in the standard treatment, are automatically eliminated by the prescription. The bookkeeping of forward and backward waves, different branches of dispersion curves, etc., is simplified. In addition to affording a straightforward and simple method of quantizing fields, the method also gives the necessary and sufficient conditions for a Hamiltonian to be transformable into harmonic-oscillator form, gives a direct relation between the classical equations of motion and the Heisenberg quantum-mechanical equations, and gives a simple method of determining the constants of the motion.
Quantum harmonic oscillators coupled through coordinates and momenta, represented by the Hamiltonian $\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}={\ensuremath{\sum}}_{i=1}^{2}(\frac{{\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{p}}_{i}^{2}}{2{m}_{i}}+\frac{{m}_{i}{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{i}^{2}}{2}{x}_{i}^{2})+{\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}}_{\text{int}}$, where the interaction of two oscillators ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}}_{\text{int}}=i{k}_{1}{x}_{1}{\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{p}}_{2}+i{k}_{2}{x}_{2}{\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{p}}_{1}+{k}_{3}{x}_{1}{x}_{2}\ensuremath{-}{k}_{4}{\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{p}}_{1}{\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{p}}_{2}$, are found in many applications of quantum optics, nonlinear physics, molecular chemistry, and biophysics. Despite this, there is currently no general solution to the Schr\"odinger equation for such a system. This is especially relevant for quantum entanglement of such a system in quantum optics applications. Here this problem is solved and it is shown that quantum entanglement depends on only one coefficient, $R\ensuremath{\in}(0,1)$, which includes all the parameters of the system under consideration. It has been shown that quantum entanglement can be very large at certain values of this coefficient. The results obtained have a fairly simple analytical form, which facilitates analysis.
The study of quantum properties of the harmonic oscillator is important in physics as many real-world systems oscillate harmonically. Motion of systems in a confined space is often modeled as being a quantized harmonic motion or, in first instance, is approximated by a harmonic motion. This chapter helps the reader to solve the equation employing an algebraic operator technique, which is based on the Dirac notation. This approach has several definite advantages and exploits the commutation relations among the operators involved and their properties. The chapter transforms the stationary Schrodinger equation into a second-order differential equation and finds the solution to the equation with the aid of a more advanced mathematical technique that involves special functions. The energy of a harmonic oscillator is quantized, with the sequence of values. The difference in energy between adjacent energy levels is equal to the energy of a single photon, ħω.