Solved problems on Quantum mechanical Simple

Harmonic

Q1. Show by plausible arguments that a quantum mechanical

harmonic oscillator cannot have a zero energy state

We can answer this question by keeping in consideration some basic con-

cepts

• The double derivative of the eigen function with respect to x is equal

to V (x) − E

• The eigen function ψ must be normalizable

Now we will proceed step by step

using the first point we have
∂2ψ
∂x2
= [V (x) − E]ψ—-(1)

From the equation (1) if the energy E is less than the potential energy
V(x) then the right hand side will be negative. This means that the double
space derivative of the eigen function ψ will be negative.
In addition if E < V (x) then then ψ ” and ψ will have same sign. geometri-
cally this means that the curve will go away from the x axis. The situation
is shown in the diagram below.
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The green curve shows the situation when ∂∂xψ2 is positive and the red
2
curve shows the situation when the ∂∂xψ2 is negative. In both cases the curve
moves away from the x axis.
But the condition of well behaved eigen functions requires that ψ should be
zero at x=∞.But it is not so here the net result is that

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Figure 1: variation of ψ with x in case E < V

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the wave function is not normalizable

The total energy E can never be less than the minimum value of poten-
tial. So the minimum energy can never be zero.

Q2.What will be the result if we apply the lowering ladder op-

erator a− repeatedly on ψ?

From the last article we saw that the the raising and lowering ladder
operators increase and decrease the energy in units of 6 hω. so if
we apply the lowering operator a− repeatedly on the eigen function we may
expect to reach a state whose energy will be less than zero!!!! But that is
not physically possible. So what is the result of a− ψ.Let us assume that we
reach a lowest state by repeated application of a− and that lowest state is ψ0
. By definition of lowering ladder operator we know that it will reduce the
energy. So we can easily guess that the repeated operation of the lowering op-
erator on the eigen function will take the system to the lowest possible state .

But What will be the lowest state of the one dimensional har-
monic oscillator??? let us consider that we have a state ψ0 which is the
lowest eigen state of the Harmonic oscillator . Now if we apply the ladder
operator to this state then it will result in zero as there can be no state less
than zero so
a− ψ0 = 0——(2)
from the previous articles we use the correct mathematical form of the low-
ering operator in equation (2) then
√ 1 ( d + mωx)ψ0 = 0—(3)
26hmω dx
equation (3) is a differential equation and is not much difficult to solve. The
solution comes out in the following steps
dψ0
dx
= − mω 6h
xψ0 —(4)
from the most basic course of differential equations you can solve (4) andthe
solution will 2be of the form
mωx
ψ0 = Ae− 26h —(5) Equation (5) gives the lowest state of the quantum me-
chanical SHO. The significant feature is that the equation (5) is that it is
well behaved wave function and it can be normalized . The normalization
of this wave function is done as shown below
R +∞
|A|2 −∞ |ψ|2 dx = 1—(6)
q
2 π6h
|A| mω
= 1(7)

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   14
A= mω
π6h
–(8)
  14 mωx2
ψ0 (x) = mω
π6h
e− 26h —(9)

Q3. What is the energy of the lowest sate ψ0 and how to calcu-
late the lowest energy
It is quiet easy we use the only step is to use the Schrodinger equation
Hψ = Eψ in terms of the ladder operators. The Schrodinger equation then
becomes
6 hω(a+ a− + 12 )ψ0 = E0 ψ0 —-(10)
expanding the bracket on the left hand side of equation (10) we have
6 hω(a+ a− ψ0 + 21 ψ0 ) = E0 ψ0
using the fact a− ψ0 = 0 and comparing the left and right hand sides we have

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E0 = 2
6 hω—(11)

equation (11) gives the energy of the lowest state (ground state) of the
quantum mechanical harmonic oscillator which is called the zero point en-
ergy

Q4. How can I calculate the energy of the first excited state of
the quantum mechanical SHO?
The process of calculating the energy and eigen states above the ground
state can be done by using the a+ raising ladder operator on the ground
state. The raising ladder operator takes the system to the next higher state
with higher energy. Let us take the ground stateψ0 and apply the ladder
operator to obtain the next higher states.

by our theory the first excited state will be given by

ψ1 (x) = A1 a+ ψ0
—–(12)
using the mathematical form of the raising ladder operator
d
a+ = √26h1mω (− 6 h dx + mωx) we have

 mω  14 − mωx2
1
A1 26amω −6 d
h dx + mωx π6h e 26h —-(13)

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 differentiating the equation (13) we have
r
1 − 26h mωx2
ψ1 = A1( mω
π6h ) 4 2mω
6h xe —-(14)

Now we will calculate the energy but how?

Q4.Well good enough but if I need to calculate the state n = 25
then this would mean that we will have to apply the raising ladder
operator 25 times? Moreover how to calculate the enrgy of the
first or higher states?

Your question is correct if this is so then the problem will be gigantic with
almost no solution. What we need to do is to formulate a general expres-
sion where we can do the calculation of higher states and energy easily by
changing a given parameter. From the previous question we saw how the
first excited state was obtained from the ground state by operating the rais-
ing ladder operator a+ once so we can generalize that the nth state can be
obtained as

ψn(x) = An(a+)nψ0(x)—-(15)
Now if we come to the energy then we saw that the lowest state has energy
E = 21 6 hω. If we apply the operator a+ once then energy will increase by
one unit of 6 hω. Thus for the energy of the nth state

En = (n + 12 ) 6 hω—-(16)

Q5.Well now we can evaluate the states and energies easily.Is

there any way to calculate the constants without getting involved
into complex integration?
Yes it is a good and important question. The constants An involve com-
plex integration formulae for evaluation.Now we will witness another magical
effect of the ladder operators. From the previous questions we saw that lad-
der operators (raising or lowering) take the eigen functions to the next higher
or lower state. Thus

a±ψn = constantψ±—(17)
let us elaborate this in detail.

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a+ψn(x) = cnψn+1(x)—(18)
a−ψn(x) = dnψn−1(x)—(19)

the question is

Q6.what are these cn and dn and what physical information they

carry?

The constants cn and dn are of crucial importance in terms of physical

information. The calculation of these constants is also very interesting . The
evaluation of these constants will make the things further easier to evaluate
different quantities related to quantum mechanical SHO.
To understand the concepts of these constants we need to know some impor-
tant properties related to these operators
suppose we have two functions(similar to eigen functions these functions are
also complex in nature) .

Let the functions are f(x) and g(x). We have our latter operators as usual
a± . The mathematical concept that is used is
R +∞ ∗
R +∞ ∗
−∞ f (a ± g)dx = −∞ (a∓ f ) gdx
—-(18)
the * stands for complex conjugates of the functions.
In the language of mathematics a± and a∓ are said to be Hermitian Con-
jugate of each other

To get further information about the constants we need to prove the

equation (17)welol its not something very difficult we just need to use the
mathematical form of the ladder operators for convenience lets write the
mathematical forms here

R +∞ R +∞
−∞ f ∗(a ± g)dx = 1
26hmω −∞
d
(∓ 6 h dx + mωx)gdx
It has to be kept in mind that the functions f(x) and g(x) are similar to
eigen functions and these functions must vanish at x = ±∞

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 ∗ dg
R
Integration by by parts gives f ( dx ) to − ( df )∗ gdx
R
dx
this property leads to the result
R +∞ R +∞
f ∗(a±g)dx = √ 1 d
[(± 6 h dx +mωx)f ]∗gdx =
R−∞
+∞
26hmω −∞

−∞ (a∓ + f )∗gdx——–(21)

R ∞In general∗we can write R +inf ty

∞ (a ±ψn ) (a ψ
± n )dx = −∞ (a∓a±ψn)∗ψndx—22)
Now we pause a little and need to understand the physical meaning of
these equations.
first thing we observe is the integral which is the normalization condition.
next thing in equation (21) we have used the mathematical form of the ladder
operator
in equation (22) the left hand side is same as the probability density. We
know that the probability density is a number which is real . The right hand
side of equation (22) shows how to represent a real number in terms of com-
plex number. The right hand side simple means

the product of a complex number and its complex conjugate is

a real number

then using the equations (10) and (15) we have

a+a−ψn = nψn—-(23)
a−a+ψn = (n + 1)ψn—(24)
the normalization condition now becomes
R +∞ ∗ 2 R +∞ 2 R +∞ 2
−∞ (a+ ψ n ) (a + ψn )dx = |c n | ∞ |ψn+1 | dx = (n+1) −∞ |ψn | dx—
(25)
R +∞ ∗ 2 R +∞ 2 R +∞ 2
−∞ (a − ψ n ) (a − ψn )dx = |d n | ∞ |ψ n−1 | dx = (n) −∞ |ψn | dx—
(26)

these two equations take us back to equations (18) and (19)

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comparing we have the result

|cn |2 = n + 1—(27)

|dn |2 = n—(28)

thus we
√are now in a position to solve the problems of the constants
a+ ψn = n + 1ψn+1 —(29)
√
a− ψn = nψn−1 –(30)

Q7. All these mathematics is puzzling !! is there any use of these equa-
tions?

We have obtained a miraculous result that will make our work magically
easy. Suppose you are given the lowest state or ground state ψ0 and I ask
you to obtain the first excited state. The solution is damn easy

we use the above equation (28)

n = 0 : a+ ψ0 = ψ1 —(30)

similarly we can find the second excited state from the first excited state

ψ2 = √1 a1 ψ1 –(31)
2
now we can evaluate any higher state from the ground state using the formula

ψn = √1 (a+ )n ψ0 —(32)
n!

Q.8 Find the state ψ2 from the ground state

To solve this problem we will use the formalism developed above
from equation (22) we can obtain ψ2 by the expression
ψ2 = 2!1 (a+)2ψ0—(23)
let us proceed step wise

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equation (23) means that you have to apply the ladder operator twice,we
will do it one by one first we evaluate ψ1

ψ1 = a+ψ0

mωx2 1
d
ψ1 = (− 6 h dx + mωx)e 26h ( mω
π6h ) —-(33)
4
2 mωx2
1 mω 14 − mωx
ψ1 = 26hmω 26h ) [−
( 6 h(−2xmωe 26h ) + mωe 26h ]
—-(34)
− −mωx2 1
√ 1 ( mω mω
ψ1 = e π6h ) [2 6 hx 26h + mωx]
26h 4
26hmωx
—–(35)
− −mωx2 2
ψ1 = √ 1
26hmωx
e 26h 2mωxe−( mωx
26h ) —–(36)

with equation (35) we can get the second state as follows

2
2 1 mω 14 2mωx2 − mωx
(a+) ψ0 = 26hmω 26h ) [ 6h
( − 1]e 26h —(38)

now with equation (32)

2
1 2 − mωx
ψ2 = √1 (a+ )2 ψ0 = √1 ( mω ) 4 ( 2mωx − 1)e 26h —(39)
2 2 πnoth 6h
How these states look like ? Can we sketch the wave functions
Yes we can sketch the wave functions. If we require to draw the wave func-
tions we need to analyse them.

lets us start one by one

(i) ψ0
now we need to find the variation of ψ0 with x .The most oblivious thing
is that at x = 0 the function is maximum. Is it all that we require ? No
we require something more to sketch the variation of ψ with x. The best

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quantity that can serve our purpose is expectation value. The expectation
values of position can help us in sketching the exact variations of the func-
tions .

The expectation value of x

for this we need to evaluate "x" in terms of the ladder operators

for this we use the equation
a± = 26h1mω (−ip + mωx)—(40)
we break the equation (40) into two parts
a+ = 26h1mω (−ip + mωx)–(41)
similarly the lowering operator
1
a− = 26hmω (+ip + mωx)—(41) adding (40) and (41) we have
q
6h
x= 2mω (a+ + a− )—(42)
similarly subtracting (41) from (42) we can obtain the momentum p in
terms of ladder operators
q
6hmω
p=i 2 (a− − a+ ) —(43)

Now the expectation value of the position x is given by

R +∞ 2
−∞ (ψ0 (x)) xdx
since ψ0 is even so the integral will be zero. This means that the maximum
probability of finding the particle will be at x = 0 . Thus the plot for the
ground state ψ0 is of Gaussian shape

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0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
−2 −1 0 1 2 3

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