HARMONIC OSCILLATOR: STATISTICS

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Post date: 26 Jun 2015.
Reference: Griffiths, David J. (2005), Introduction to Quantum Mechan-
ics, 2nd Edition; Pearson Education - Problem 1.9.
Suppose a particle is in the quantum state
2 /h̄
Ψ (x, t) = Ae−amx e−iat (1)
where A is the normalization constant and a is a constant with dimensions
of 1/time. We can find A from normalization:
ˆ ∞
|Ψ|2 dx = 1 (2)
−∞
ˆ ∞
2 /h̄
= |A| 2
e−2amx dx (3)
−∞
r
πh̄2
= |A| (4)
2ma
 1/4
2ma
A = (5)
πh̄
The spatial component of the wave function is

2ma 1/4 −amx2 /h̄

 
ψ (x) = e (6)
πh̄
and it must satisfy the time-independent Schrödinger equation in one di-
mension

h̄2 d2 ψ(x)
− + V (x)ψ(x) = Eψ(x) (7)
2m dx2
The energy E can be found from the time equation:

∂Ξ
ih̄ = EΞ (8)
∂t
where
1
 HARMONIC OSCILLATOR: STATISTICS 2

Ξ (t) = e−iat (9)

Therefore

E = h̄a (10)
From 7 we have
1/4
h̄2 d2 ψ(x)

2ma 2
a h̄ − 2amx2 e−amx /h̄


− = (11)
2m dx2 πh̄
2 2
h̄ d ψ(x)
Eψ(x) + 2m dx2
V (x) = (12)
ψ (x)
= 2ma2 x2 (13)
This is the harmonic oscillator potential, and the wave function is actually
the ground state of that potential.
We can work out a few average values:

hxi = 0 (14)
since ψ (x) is even.
ˆ ∞

2 h̄
x = x2 ψ 2 dx = (15)
−∞ 4am
ˆ ∞
∂ψ
hpi = −ih̄ ψ dx = 0 (16)
−∞ ∂x
ˆ ∞

2 ∂ 2ψ
p = −h̄2 ψ 2 dx = h̄ma (17)
−∞ ∂x
The standard deviations are
r
1 h̄
q
σx = hx2 i − hxi2 = (18)
2 ma
q √
σp = hp2 i − hpi2 = h̄ma (19)
and the uncertainty principle is
h̄
σx σp = (20)
2
so in this case, the uncertainty is the minimum possible.