Wave Function and the Fourier Transform

Sumiyoshi Abe, John T. Sheridan

The special affine Fourier transformation (SAFT) is a generalization of the fractional Fourier transformation (FRT) and represents the most general lossless inhomogeneous linear mapping, in phase space, as the integral transformation of a wave function. Here we first summarize the most well-known optical operations on light-wave functions (i.e., the FRT, lens transformation, free-space propagation, and magnification), in a unified way, from the viewpoint of the one-parameter Abelian subgroups of the SAFT. Then we present a new operation, which is the Lorentz-type hyperbolic transformation in phase space and exhibits squeezing. We also show that the SAFT including these five operations can be generated from any two independent operations.

Eymen Güler

Marco O. Lanzagorta, Jeffrey K. Uhlmann

Steffen Weimann, Armando Pérez-Leija, Maxime Lebugle +9 more

Fourier transforms, integer and fractional, are ubiquitous mathematical tools in basic and applied science. Certainly, since the ordinary Fourier transform is merely a particular case of a continuous set of fractional Fourier domains, every property and application of the ordinary Fourier transform becomes a special case of the fractional Fourier transform. Despite the great practical importance of the discrete Fourier transform, implementation of fractional orders of the corresponding discrete operation has been elusive. Here we report classical and quantum optical realizations of the discrete fractional Fourier transform. In the context of classical optics, we implement discrete fractional Fourier transforms of exemplary wave functions and experimentally demonstrate the shift theorem. Moreover, we apply this approach in the quantum realm to Fourier transform separable and path-entangled biphoton wave functions. The proposed approach is versatile and could find applications in various fields where Fourier transforms are essential tools.

Keith Zengel, Nick DeVitto, Nathanael Hillyer +2 more

We present several variations of a proof of the position-momentum uncertainty principle that are based on the calculus of variations and does not rely on the Cauchy–Schwartz inequality. We show that the stationary uncertainty wave functions are the Hermite–Gaussian solutions to the quantum harmonic oscillator problem, that the minimum uncertainty wave function is the Gaussian, and that stationary uncertainty wave functions must be their own Fourier transforms. We also provide a calculus of variations proof of the Cauchy–Schwartz inequality. Finally, we discuss the properties of wave functions that are their own Fourier transforms and provide examples of such functions that may be of interest to teachers of undergraduate and graduate level quantum mechanics courses.

Franz Schwabl