Phys 521

Quantum Mechanics I

Fall 2011 Due Tuesday, November 1 (at lecture)

Homework Assignment #5 (40 points) 5.1 (10 points) Challenge problem (a)

5.2 (10 points) Consider a harmonic oscillator with mass m, resonant frequency , position operator X , and momentum operator P (in this problem, X and P are the usual position and momentum operators, in accordance with C-Ts notation, not the dimensionless operators introduced in the lectures). The creation and annihilation operators are given by ( ) ( ) m P m P a= X +i , a = X i . 2 h m 2 h m The Hamiltonian is H = ha a, where the zero-point energy has been omitted, and the unitary evolution operator is ( ) i U (t, 0) = exp Ht = eita a . h This problem deals with with the minimum-uncertainty states |r , which satisfy (a cosh r + a sinh r)|r =

m 2 h

( ) r r P e X + ie |r = 0 , m

where r is a real number called the squeeze parameter. Up to an arbitrary phase there is one minimum-uncertainty state for each value of r, as can be veried by calculating the wave function x|r . (a) Evaluate the following expectation values with respect to the state |r : X , P , 2 X , P 2 , and XP + P X . (Hint: If you dont nd a minimum-uncertainty product, you made a mistake.) (b) The unitary squeeze operator is dened by ( ( )) 1 2 2i 2 2i S (r, ) exp r a e (a ) e . 2 Show that S (r, )aS (r, ) = a cosh r + a e2i sinh r .

(c) Squeezed states are obtained by letting the squeeze operator act on the oscillators ground state |0 ; that is, the squeezed state |r, is given by |r, S (r, )|0 . Show that |r can be taken to be the squeezed state |r,0 .

(d) Suppose that the oscillators initial state is | (0) = |r,0 . Show that the state | (t) at an arbitrary time t is a squeezed state |r(t),(t) , and determine r(t) and (t) as functions of t. Show that at time t = /2 , i.e., a quarter of the way through an oscillation, the state is a minimum-uncertainty-state with the sign of the squeeze parameter reversed. (e) Find the wave function r (x) = x|r of the minimum-uncertainty state (up to an irrelevant global phase). [Hint: Find a rst-order dierential equation satised by r (x).] You might nd one or more of the following properties useful. BCH identity: eA+B = eA eB e 2 [A,B ] if A and B commute with [A, B ] ] 1[ [ ]] 1[ B B e Ae = A + [B, A] + B, [B, A] + B, B, [B, A] + 2! 3!
1

Heisenberg-picture evolution: U (t, 0)aU (t, 0) = eita a aeita Hyperbolic cosine: cosh r Hyperbolic sine: sinh r cosh r + sinh r = er 1 r (e + er ) = 2
even k0

= ait

rk k!

1 r ( e e r ) = 2

odd k0

rk k! cosh2 r sinh2 r = 1

cosh r sinh r = er

5.3 (10 points) Classical generalized force on a harmonic oscillator. Consider a harmonic oscillator that is acted on by a generalized force f (t), so that its Hamiltonian becomes (t) = H 0 + i H h[ a f (t) a f (t)] , 0 = where H h a a is the oscillators free Hamiltonian (the zero-point energy has been omitted since it has no eect on the dynamics). The unitary evolution operator for the oscillator satises the Schr odinger equation, i h (t, 0) dU (t)U (t, 0) , =H dt

(0, 0) = with initial condition U 1. The solution for the evolution operator has the form ( ) (t, 0) = ei(t) U 0 (t, 0)D a U , (t) . ( ) a (t) a Here (t) and (t) are functions of time to be determined, D a , (t) = e(t) is the )H0 t a 0 (t, 0) = e(i/h displacement operator, and U = eita is the free evolution operator. (a) As a rst step in solving for U (t, 0), show that ( ) [ ] ( ) dD a , (t) = 1 ( ) + ( a a ) D a , ( t ) . 2 dt

(Hint: Use the Baker-Campbell-Hausdor identity to write the displacement operator in normally ordered form, i.e., to put the creation operators to the left of the annihilation operators, and then dierentiate.) (b) Use the result of part (a) to show that the Schr odinger equation implies two ordinary dierential equations for (t) and (t), whose solutions are (t) =
0 t

dt f (t )eit ,

(t) =
1 2i 0

dt ( ) .

(c) Suppose that the oscillator is initially in the ground state, i.e., | (0) = |0 . At time t, nd the expectation values of a , a , a a , and a 2 in terms of (t) and (t). Use these expectation values to nd the expectation values and variances of x and p . 5.4 (10 points) Challenge problem (b)