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Journal of Mathematical Physics

Comment on “Quantization of the damped harmonic oscillator” [J. Math. Phys. 59, 082105 (2018)]

Francisco Marcelo Fernández

Published Sep 1, 2019• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Serhan et al. [J. Math. Phys. 59, 082105 (2018)] derived a quantum-mechanical Hamiltonian operator from the classical equations of motion for the damped harmonic oscillator and obtained its eigenvalues and eigenfunctions by canonical quantization. They claim that the eigenvalues are real, but here we show that they are in fact complex.
DOI
10.1063/1.5126424

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This is a response to a recently reported comment [F. M. Fernández, J. Math. Phys. 60, 094101 (2019)] on paper [M. Serhan et al., J. Math. Phys. 59, 082105 (2018)] regarding the quantization of the damped harmonic oscillator using a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian with real energy eigenvalues. We assert here that the calculation of Eq. (29) of Serhan et al. [J. Math. Phys. 59, 082105 (2018)] is incorrect, and thus the subsequent steps via the Nikiforov-Uvarov method are affected, and the energy eigenvalues should have been complex. However, we show here that the Hermiticity of the Hamiltonian should be first achieved to make the correct transition from classical Hamiltonian to quantum counterpart, and this can be reached using the symmetrization rule. The canonical quantization on the resulted Hermitian Hamiltonian yields the real energy eigenvalues as exactly given by Eq. (35) of Serhan et al. [J. Math. Phys. 59, 082105 (2018)].
Abstract By selecting a right generalized coordinate X, which contains the general solutions of the classical motion equation of a forced damped harmonic oscillator, we obtain a simple Hamiltonian which does not contain time for the oscillator such that Schrödinger equation and its solutions can be directly written out in X representation. The wave functin in x representation are also given with the help of the eigenfunctions of the operator X^ \hat X X^ in x representation. The evolution of ⟨x^⟩ \left\langle {\hat x} \right\rangle ⟨x^⟩ is the same as in the classical mechanics, and the uncertainty in position is independent of an external influence; one part of energy mean is quantized and attenuated, and the other is equal to the classical energy.
A previously developed novel theory for the formal canonical quantization of classically dissipating systems will be the starting point for a detailed discussion of the quantum statistical aspects of the simple linearly damped harmonic oscillator. The formalism essentially involves complex classical canonical coordinates and momenta, and thus quite naturally leads to the possibility of creation and annihilation operators. Furthermore, the occurrence of quantal noise operators appears to be of principal importance for the conservation of the fundamental commutator in the course of time, as will be expressed in a simple fluctuation-dissipation relation. Making a canonical transformation back to the real, Cartesian Hermitian position and momentum an "effective" Hermitian Hamiltonian will be derived, with which a transformation is made from the Heisenberg frame to the Schr\"odinger frame where the density operator equation will be computed. This will make it obvious that no proper Schr\"odinger equation exists for the dissipative subsystem on its own, thus reflecting an incomplete knowledge. The master equation will then be translated into its Wigner representation. The intimate connection between the diffusion coefficients in the resulting Fokker-Planck equation and the uncertainty relation will be demonstrated in a clear fashion.