The isotropic harmonic oscillator in N dimensions is shown to have an underlying symmetry group O(2,1)X O(N)which implies a unique result for the energy spectrum of the system. Raising and lowering operators analogous to those of the one-dimensional oscillator are given for each value of the angular momentum parameter. This allows the construction of an infinite number of coherent states to be carried out. In the N=1 case there is a twofold family of coherent states, a particular linear combination of which coincides with the single set already well known for that case. Wave functions are readily derived which require only the solution of a first order differential equation, an attribute generally characteristic of group theoretical approaches.
We study the known coherent states of a quantum harmonic oscillator from the standpoint of the original developed noncommutative integration method for linear partial differential equations. The application of the method is based on the symmetry properties of the Schrödinger equation and on the orbit geometry of the coadjoint representation of Lie groups. We have shown that analogs of coherent states constructed by the noncommutative integration can be expressed in terms of the solution of a system of differential equations on the Lie group of the oscillatory Lie algebra. The solutions constructed are directly related to irreducible representation of the Lie algebra on the Hilbert space functions on the Lagrangian submanifold to the orbit of the coadjoint representation.
We study the known coherent states of a quantum harmonic oscillator from the standpoint of the originally developed noncommutative integration method for linear partial differential equations. The application of the method is based on the symmetry properties of the Schrödinger equation and on the orbit geometry of the coadjoint representation of Lie groups. We have shown that analogs of coherent states constructed by the noncommutative integration can be expressed in terms of the solution to a system of differential equations on the Lie group of the oscillatory Lie algebra. The solutions constructed are directly related to irreducible representation of the Lie algebra on the Hilbert space functions on the Lagrangian submanifold to the orbit of the coadjoint representation.
We study the quantum mechanical harmonic oscillator in two and three dimensions, with particular attention to the solutions as represents of their respective symmetry groups: O(2), O(3), and O(2,1). Solving the Schrodinger equation by separating variables in polar coordinates, we obtain wavefunctions characterized by a principal quantum number, the group Casimir eigenvalue, and one observable component of orbital angular momentum, with eigenvalue
m+s, for integer
m and real constant parameter
s. In each symmetry group,
s splits the solutions into two inequivalent representations, one associated with
s=0, which recovers the familiar description of the oscillator as a product of one-dimensional solutions, and the other with
s>0 (in three dimensions,
s=0,1/2) whose solutions are non-separable in Cartesian coordinates, and are hence overlooked by the standard Fock space approach. In two dimensions, a single set of creation and annihilation operators forms a ladder representation for the allowed oscillator states for any
s, and the degeneracy of energy states is always finite. However, in three dimensions, the integer and half-integer eigenstates are qualitatively different: the former can be expressed as finite dimensional irreducible tensors under O(3) or O(2,1), and a ladder representation can be constructed via irreducible tensor products of the vector creation operator multiplet, while the latter exhibit infinite degeneracy and the finite-dimensional ladder representation fails for these states. These results are closely connected to the breaking of a unitary symmetry of the harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian recently discussed by Bars.
We study the quantum mechanical harmonic oscillator in two and three dimensions, with particular attention to the solutions as basis states for representing their respective symmetry groups — O(2), O(1,1), O(3), and O(2,1). The goal of this study is to establish a correspondence between Hilbert space descriptions found by solving the Schrodinger equation in polar coordinates, and Fock space descriptions constructed by expressing the symmetry operators in terms of creation/annihilation operators. We obtain wavefunctions characterized by a principal quantum number, the group Casimir eigenvalue, and one group generator whose eigenvalue is m + s , for integer m and real constant parameter s . For the three groups that contain O(2), the solutions split into two inequivalent representations, one associated with s = 0, from which we recover the familiar description of the oscillator as a product of one-dimensional solutions, and the other with s > 0 (in three dimensions, solutions are found for s = 0 and s = 1/2) whose solutions are non-separable in Cartesian coordinates, and are hence overlooked by the standard Fock space approach. The O(1,1) solutions are singlet states, restricted to zero eigenvalue of the symmetry operator, which represents the boost, not angular momentum. For O(2), a single set of creation and annihilation operators forms a ladder representation for the allowed oscillator states for any s, and the degeneracy of energy states is always finite. However, in three dimensions, the integer and half-integer eigenstates are qualitatively different: the former can be expressed as finite dimensional irreducible tensors under O(3) or O(2,1) while the latter exhibit infinite degeneracy. Creation operators that produce the allowed integer states by acting on the non-degenerate ground state are constructed as irreducible tensor products of the fundamental vector representation. However, the half-integer eigenstates are infinite-dimensional, as expected for the non-compact O(2,1), and no Fock space description is found for this case. For all s ≠ 0 solutions, the SU(N) symmetry of the harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian recently discovered by Bars is spontaneously broken by the ground state. The connection of this symmetry breaking to the non-separability into one-dimensional Cartesian solutions is demonstrated. We conclude with a discussion of the O(2,1) solutions, and the problem of timelike ghost excitations.