Statistical consequences of the zero-point energy of the harmonic oscillator

Luis de la Peña, Andrea Valdés-Hernández, and Ana María Cetto

Citation: American Journal of Physics 76, 947 (2008); doi: 10.1119/1.2948780

View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.2948780
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 Statistical consequences of the zero-point energy of the harmonic
oscillator
Luis de la Peña,a兲 Andrea Valdés-Hernández, and Ana María Cettob兲
Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado postal 20-364, 01000 México
共Received 12 December 2007; accepted 30 May 2008兲
In a recent thermodynamic analysis of the harmonic oscillator Boyer has shown, using an
interpolation procedure, that the existence of a zero-point energy leads to Planck’s law. We avoid the
interpolation procedure by adding a statistical argument to arrive at Planck’s law as a consequence
of the existence of the zero-point energy. As in Boyer’s argument, no explicit assumption of
quantum mechanics is introduced. We discuss the relation of our results to the analysis of Planck and
Einstein which led to the notion of the quantized radiation field. We then inquire into the discrete or
continuous behavior of the energy and pinpoint the origin and meaning of the discontinuities. To
include zero-point fluctuations 共which are neglected in the thermodynamic analysis兲, we discuss the
statistical 共in contrast to the purely thermodynamic兲 description of the oscillator, which accounts for
both the thermal and temperature-independent contributions to the dispersion of the energy. © 2008
American Association of Physics Teachers.
关DOI: 10.1119/1.2948780兴

I. INTRODUCTION correctly accounts for both thermal and temperature-

independent contributions to the variance of the energy and
Boyer has studied anew the thermodynamics of the har- opens the door to zero-point fluctuations. This result leads to
monic oscillator.1 By an analysis based on the invariance of a deeper understanding of the origin of quantum fluctuations.
the action under a quasistatic change of the frequency, Boyer
reproduced Wien’s displacement law. He then introduced an
important departure from the usual treatments by allowing
for a nonzero temperature-independent energy 共the zero- II. BASIC RELATIONS
point energy兲 in solving for the Helmholtz free energy at low A. Thermodynamics of the harmonic oscillator
temperatures. This assumption implies that the mean energy
is proportional to the frequency of the oscillator at low tem- In his thermodynamic analysis Boyer1 showed that the
peratures, a result that violates the equipartition principle but harmonic oscillator can be described by the thermodynamic
agrees with quantum theory. potential ␾共z兲 共Boltzmann’s constant, k, is taken to be unity
To derive Planck’s law for the intensity radiated by a in Ref. 1兲
blackbody as a function of frequency at a given temperature
T from the thermodynamic relations, Boyer made the 1
smoothest possible interpolation between energy equiparti- ␾共z兲 = − F共␻,T兲, 共1兲
kT
tion at high temperatures and the zero-point energy at low
temperatures. In this paper we show that this interpolation where z = ␻ / T and F共␻ , T兲 is the Helmholtz free energy 共here
can be avoided by adding a statistical argument and obtain ␻ represents a parameter兲. The average oscillator energy in
the mean energy of the oscillators from the sole existence of thermal equilibrium is given by
the zero-point energy. Our approach leads directly to
Planck’s law and reveals the important role of the zero-point d␾共z兲
U共␻,T兲 = − ␻k = − ␻k␾⬘共z兲 = ␻ f共␻/T兲, 共2兲
energy in leading to the quantum behavior of the system at dz
equilibrium.
As in Boyer’s calculation, no explicit quantum argument is where we have let f共z兲 ⬅ −k␾⬘共z兲. The last equality corre-
introduced. After obtaining our results we review their con- sponds to Wien’s law, and states that the mean energy of the
nection with the analysis of Planck and Einstein,2–4 which oscillator is ␻ times a function of the single variable ␻ / T.
led to the notion of the quantized radiation field 共with no The usual form of Wien’s displacement law, which is the
knowledge of the zero-point energy兲, and show how much inverse relation between the wavelength of the peak of the
simplification and transparency is gained by introducing the emission of a blackbody and its temperature, easily follows
idea of the zero-point energy. We further inquire into the from this result. The entropy of the oscillator is
discrete or continuous behavior of the energy and clarify the 1
origin and meaning of its discrete nature which is character- S共z兲 = k␾共z兲 + U共␻,T兲. 共3兲
istic in quantum mechanics. Our analysis provides a trans- T
parent way of connecting the ideas of continuity and discon- For the specific heat at constant ␻ 共shown to be a function of
tinuity using the notion of zero-point energy and solves the the single variable z兲 Boyer obtained

冉 冊
blackbody radiation problem using a novel and simple ap-
proach that can be included in undergraduate textbooks. ⳵U d2␾共z兲
Within the thermodynamic analysis all fluctuations are of C␻共z兲 = = kz2 . 共4兲
⳵T ␻ dz2
a thermal nature. In Sec. VI we briefly discuss the statistical
共in contrast to the purely thermodynamic兲 description, which These results are sufficient for our purposes.

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 Before proceeding we use these results to show how the d␾ 1 1 ⳵Zg 1
zero-point energy enters. In the low temperature limit T = =− U, 共12兲
dz ␻k Zg ⳵␤ ␻k
→ 0, Eq. 共2兲 becomes
in agreement with Eq. 共2兲. The dependence of these expres-
E0 ⬅ U共␻,0兲 = − ␻k␾⬘共⬁兲 = constant ⫻ ␻ . 共5兲
sions on ␻ and T, though not explicitly stated, agrees with
In the usual thermodynamic analysis we arbitrarily choose that of Boyer’s.
the constant ␾⬘共⬁兲 = 0. If we assume it is nonzero, we see the In standard classical theory all energy states are assumed
emergence of a zero-point energy that is proportional to the to have equal weights, that is, g共E兲 = 1, which leads to
frequency of the oscillator.5,6 This choice, which is contrary 1 −␤E
to energy equipartition and hence to classical physics, opens W1共E兲 ⬅ Wg=1共E兲 = e , 共13兲
up interesting possibilities that we will explore, following Z 1共 ␤ 兲

冕
Boyer. ⬁
1
Z 1共 ␤ 兲 = e−␤EdE = , 共14兲
B. Thermodynamic distribution 0 ␤
Our goal is to find the mean energy of a system of oscil-
lators as a function of the temperature. For this purpose we 1 dZ1 1
具E典 = U = − = , 共15兲
consider a system in equilibrium at temperature T and look Z1 d␤ ␤
for a distribution W共E兲 of the energy E subject to the condi-
which is contrary to the existence of a zero-point energy.
tion that the entropy be a maximum. Such an entropy is
Consequently, to allow for a nonzero zero-point energy we
defined through the probability distribution W by the relation
must resort to the more general probability distribution W共E兲
S=−k 冕 W ln WdE. 共6兲
with g共E兲 a nontrivial function to be determined.

III. FUNCTIONAL FORM OF THE MEAN ENERGY

The maximum entropy formalism7,8 gives the general form
of the probability that the energy has a value between E and From Eqs. 共7兲–共9兲 with f共E兲 = Er, r being a positive inte-
E + dE for a given temperature as ger, it follows that 共the prime indicates derivative with re-
1 spect to ␤兲
g共E兲e−␤EdE,
冕
Wg共E兲dE = 共7兲 ⬁
Z g共 ␤ 兲 Zg⬘ r 1
具Er典⬘ = − 具E 典 − Er+1g共E兲e−␤EdE

冕
Zg Zg 0

Z g共 ␤ 兲 = g共E兲e−␤EdE. 共8兲 Zg⬘ r

=− 具E 典 − 具Er+1典. 共16兲
Zg
Here ␤ = 1 / 共kT兲 is the inverse temperature, Zg共␤兲 is the par-
tition function, and g共E兲 is a weight function representing the Because
number of states for a given energy E. The mean value
具f共E兲典 of any function f共E兲 is given by 具E典 = U =
1
Zg
冕 ⬁
Eg共E兲e−␤EdE = −
Zg⬘
Zg
, 共17兲

冕
0
⬁
具f共E兲典 = f共E兲Wg共E兲dE, 共9兲 Eq. 共16兲 gives the recurrence relation
0
具Er+1典 = U具Er典 − 具Er典⬘ . 共18兲
where the subscript g has been added to W to emphasize that
the function g共E兲 is central in determining W and Z. The This result can be extended to any continuous function G共E兲
probability distribution Wg共E兲 is not new; Einstein consid- to give
ered it in his early work on the specific heat of solids.9,10 − 具G共E兲典⬘ = 具EG共E兲典 − U具G共E兲典, 共19兲
Equation 共7兲 is a generalization of the usual Boltzmann prob-
ability distribution and reduces to it in the particular case g which shows that −具G共E兲典⬘ is given in general by the cova-
= 1 关see Eq. 共13兲兴. riance of G共E兲 and E.
That the probability distribution Wg共E兲 is consistent with With r = 1 in Eq. 共18兲 we obtain for the energy variance
the thermodynamics derived by Boyer can easily be seen by ␴E2 ⬅ E2 − U2 = − U⬘ . 共20兲
substituting Eq. 共7兲 in Eq. 共6兲,
Equation 共20兲 can be written as the well known relation8
S=−k 冕 Wg共− ln Zg + ln g − ␤E兲dE
␴E2 = − U⬘ = kT2 冉 冊⳵U
= kT2C␻ 共21兲
⳵T ␻
= k ln Zg − k具ln g典 + U/T, 共10兲
in terms of the heat capacity C␻. Because C␻ remains finite,
where we have written 具E典 = U共T兲 = U. Comparison with Eq. the right-hand side of Eq. 共21兲 is zero at T = 0, and hence
共3兲 gives for the thermodynamic potential
␴E2 共T = 0兲 = 0. 共22兲
␾ = ln Zg − 具ln g典. 共11兲
This result refers to thermal fluctuations, because the de-
As shown in Appendix A, the term 具ln g典 is independent of z scription provided by the probability distribution Wg is of a
共that is, independent of T for ␻ constant兲 so Eq. 共11兲 leads to thermodynamic nature.

948 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 76, No. 10, October 2008 de la Peña, Valdés-Hernández, and Cetto 948
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 A. Establishing the equilibrium energy distribution of a1 follows directly from Wien’s law, although the demon-
stration is more involved. To determine the value of a0 we
Our task is to determine the functional form of the mean use Eq. 共26兲 to write
energy U共␤兲, which follows from Eqs. 共18兲, 共20兲, and 共22兲.
From Eq. 共20兲 it is possible to express ␴E2 as a function of U m2共0兲 = a0 + 2E20 = E20 , 共31兲
by inverting 具E共␤兲典 = U. To determine ␴E2 共U兲 we combine or a0 = −E20. Hence
Eqs. 共18兲 and 共20兲 and write
m2共U兲 = 2U2 − E20 . 共32兲
d具Er典 2
具Er+1典 = U具Er典 + ␴ . 共23兲 This solution, when introduced into the recurrence relation
dU E
Eq. 共24兲 with M r = mr, gives a polynomial solution for mr for
To simplify the notation we let M r = 具Er典, so that the recur- r 艌 2 of order r and parity 共−1兲r with respect to U, and sat-
rence relation becomes isfies the boundary conditions Eqs. 共25兲 and 共27兲. By con-
struction M r and mr coincide at T = 0 and T → ⬁, so their
M r+1 = UM r + ␴E2 M r⬘ , 共24兲 difference ␹r ⬅ M r − mr becomes negligible in both limits for
any r, as is the case for ␹2. As we will show in the following,
with M r⬘ = dM r / dU. Equation 共24兲 indicates that the solution the solution M 2 = m2 leads to the known physical description
for all moments M r with r ⬎ 2 is determined by the solution of the equilibrium state. We thus conclude that the appropri-
for the second-order moment, M 2 = U2 + ␴E2 . ate solution corresponds to the selection ␹2共U兲 = 0. In Appen-
By applying Eq. 共22兲 to Eq. 共24兲 we obtain at low enough
dix C we elaborate on this and related matters.
temperatures M r+1 = UM r, or
From Eq. 共32兲 ␴E2 is given by
M r = Ur at T = 0. 共25兲
␴E2 = U2 − E20 . 共33兲
If we allow for the zero-point energy given by Eq. 共5兲, it
We combine Eqs. 共33兲 and 共20兲 and obtain
follows from Eq. 共25兲 that
dU
M 2共0兲 = E20 , 共26兲 = − d␤ , 共34兲
U − E20
2

which is another form of Eq. 共22兲.

At high temperatures the zero-point energy becomes neg- which after integration gives

冦 冧
ligible, and all moments M r must take on their classical val- 1
ues. In the classical limit the probability distribution function for E0 = 0,
is given by Eq. 共13兲, which corresponds to g = 1 in Eq. 共7兲. It U
␤= 共35兲
follows that M r must reduce to 1 U
coth−1 for E0 ⫽ 0.

冕 ⬁ E0 E0
Mr = ␤ Ere−␤EdE = r!Ur, 共T → ⬁兲. 共27兲
0 Although the case E0 = 0 can be treated as a limit of E0 ⫽ 0, it
is more illustrative to treat the two cases separately. We in-
For r = 2, M 2 = 2U2 as T → ⬁ and hence vert the functions in Eq. 共35兲 and find

冦 冧
␴E2 = M 2 − U2 = U2, 共T → ⬁兲. 共28兲 1
for E0 = 0
We combine Eqs. 共25兲, 共27兲, and 共28兲 and express the solu- U共␤兲 = ␤ 共36兲
tion for M 2共U兲 at all temperatures in the form E0 coth E0␤ for E0 ⫽ 0.
M 2共U兲 = m2共U兲 + ␹2共U兲, 共29兲 The functional form of the mean energy is seen to depend
on the value of E0. For E0 = 0 we obtain classical energy
where m2共U兲 is a polynomial solution subject to the bound- equipartition
ary conditions 共25兲 and 共27兲 for M 2共U兲, and ␹2共U兲 is an
Uequipartition = ␤−1 . 共37兲
additional function to be determined. From Eq. 共27兲 it is
clear that m2共U兲 is at most second order in U, In contrast, if the theory allows for E0 ⫽ 0, we obtain
Planck’s law
m2共U兲 = a0 + a1U + a2U , 2
共30兲
UPlanck = E0 coth E0␤ , 共38兲
where the parameters a0, a1, and a2 can in principle depend
on the frequency ␻. The form of Eq. 共30兲 implies that with the zero-point energy included, as is easily found by
␹2共U兲 = 0 at T = 0 and should go to zero quickly enough at taking the limit T → 0 in Eq. 共38兲,
high temperatures to be consistent with the boundary condi-
UPlanck共␤ → ⬁兲 = E0 , 共39兲
tion Eq. 共28兲.
The value of a2 in Eq. 共30兲 is found from Eq. 共27兲 to be and recalling from Eq. 共5兲 that E0 = constant⫻ ␻.
a2 = 2. To fix a1 we observe that ␴E2 共U兲 is invariant under the This reasoning establishes that the ultimate meaning of
inversion E → −E. Although this transformation is not physi- Planck’s law is the existence of the zero-point energy,
cal, it formally leads to the substitution U → −U and allows whereas the equipartition of energy reflects its absence. We
us to conclude that ␴E2 must be an even function of U, and stress that Planck’s law has been obtained without introduc-
hence a1 = 0. In Appendix B it is demonstrated that this for- ing any explicit quantum requirement. The fact that Planck’s
mal argument can be avoided by showing that the zero value law arises from the existence of a zero-point energy empha-

949 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 76, No. 10, October 2008 de la Peña, Valdés-Hernández, and Cetto 949
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 sizes the crucial importance of this temperature-independent
energy for understanding quantum mechanics.
⳵ 2S
2 =
⳵ k
⳵UT ⳵UT UT
冉 冊
k
=− 2.
UT
共47兲

For his description of the low temperature behavior Planck

B. A comment on the fluctuations of the zero-point used Wien’s law, Eq. 共45兲, which was believed to be an exact
energy description of the properties of the equilibrium field. He thus
We note that for E0 ⫽ 0 the energy dispersion is given ac- wrote 共using modern notation, with E0 = ប␻ / 2兲
cording to Eq. 共33兲 by UT = 2E0e−2E0␤ = 2E0e−2E0/kT = 2E0e−2共E0/k兲共⳵S/⳵UT兲 . 共48兲
␴E2 共U兲 =U − 2
E20 共U = UPlanck兲, 共40兲 Hence
whereas in the classical case 共for which E0 = 0兲, ⳵S k UT
=− ln 共49兲
␴E2 共U兲 =U 2
共U = Uequipartition兲. 共41兲 ⳵UT 2E0 2E0
Although in the latter case the thermal fluctuations of the and
oscillator’s energy depend on its mean thermal energy, in the
quantum case they are expressed in terms of the total mean ⳵ 2S k
=− . 共50兲
energy including a temperature-independent contribution ac- ⳵UT2 2E0UT
cording to Eq. 共40兲. At T = 0 the thermal energy fluctuations
vanish in the Planck case just as in the classical case, which Planck correctly assumed that the description for arbitrary
means that any fluctuations of the energy at zero temperature temperature could be obtained from an interpolation of Eqs.
must be nonthermal. In the following we show that a result 共47兲 and 共50兲 and proposed
similar in form to Eq. 共41兲 holds in general once all thermal ⳵ 2S k
and nonthermal fluctuations and energies are taken into ac- =− 2 . 共51兲
⳵UT2 UT + 2E0UT
count 关see Eq. 共69兲兴. Because ␴E2 in Eq. 共40兲 contains only
thermal fluctuations, we should identify E20 with the nonther- Equation 共51兲 leads immediately to Planck’s law without a
mal ones, a result that is verified by Eq. 共69兲. zero-point term, Eq. 共44兲, a result that Planck interpreted as
due to the quantization of the energy exchanged between the
material oscillators and the equilibrium radiation field.
IV. PLANCK, EINSTEIN, AND THE ZERO-POINT
ENERGY
B. Einstein’s revolutionary step
Our discussion suggests separating the mean energy U A few years later, Einstein argued that Eq. 共51兲 was well
into a thermal UT and a temperature-independent E0 contri- confirmed by experiment and should therefore be used in-
bution, stead, although its meaning remained to be clarified. From
U = UT + E0 . 共42兲 Eq. 共46兲, which Einstein took as a safe point of departure,12
The introduction of Eq. 共42兲 into Eq. 共40兲 gives ⳵ 2S ⳵ 1 1
2 = =− 2 , 共52兲
⳵UT ⳵UT T T C␻
␴E2 = UT2 + 2E0UT . 共43兲
we obtain
The first term in Eq. 共43兲,

UT = E0 coth E0␤ − E0 =
e
2E0
2E0␤
−1
, 共44兲
kT2C␻ = − k 冉 冊
⳵ 2S
⳵UT2
−1
. 共53兲

We combine Eq. 共53兲 with Eqs. 共51兲 and 共21兲 and obtain
is Planck’s law without the zero-point term. At sufficiently
low temperatures UT takes the form ⳵UT
kT2C␻ = − = ␴E2 = UT2 + 2E0UT , 共54兲
UT = 2E0e −2E0␤
, 共45兲 ⳵␤

which is the 共approximate兲 law suggested by Wien.
A. Comments on Planck’s original analysis
In his initial studies on the radiation field in equilibrium
with matter, Planck2 used as his point of departure the
expression11
⳵S 1
= .
⳵U T
In agreement with the then classical view that recognized
only a thermal energy, there was no room for a zero-point
energy, so U should be replaced here by UT. In the high
temperature limit Eq. 共46兲 led Planck to write 共taking UT共T
→ ⬁兲 = kT兲
which is Eq. 共43兲. Einstein recognized that Eq. 共54兲 does not
agree with the classical result ␴E2 = UT2 . It is here where he
made his most revolutionary step in physics.13 He interpreted
the first term on the right-hand side of Eq. 共54兲 as due to the
fluctuations of the thermal field produced by the interference
among its modes—the same phenomenon that produces the
interference patterns of monochromatic light. This interpre-
tation follows from considering the limit of Eq. 共54兲 at high
temperatures at which UT Ⰷ E0 and therefore ␴E2 = UT2 , as pre-
共46兲 dicted by Maxwell’s equations 共without zero-point energy兲.14
Thus, Einstein saw in this term a direct manifestation of the
wave-like nature of light.
As for the second term in Eq. 共54兲, which is unexpected
from classical thermodynamics, the fact that it leads to the
quantum theory of Planck led Einstein to interpret it in terms
of light quanta; that is, he saw in the expression 2E0UT a

950 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 76, No. 10, October 2008 de la Peña, Valdés-Hernández, and Cetto 950
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202.28.191.34 On: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 22:06:00
 manifestation of the discrete nature of the radiation field.
According to Planck, the average energy interchanged be-
tween the material oscillators and the radiation field is ⌬U
冕 E0 coth E0␤d␤ = − ln Zg + ln C, 共56兲

= ប␻具n典, and the extra fluctuations contribute with the vari- which leads to
ance ␴⌬U2
= 2E0⌬U = ប2␻2具n典, as follows from Eq. 共54兲. Ein-
C
stein argued that the linear character of the variance in 具n典 Zg = . 共57兲
sinh E0␤
suggests a Poisson distribution for n independent events,
each one interchanging an energy equal to ប␻. Thus, Ein- The value of the constant C can be determined by requiring
stein interpreted the linear term as a “corpuscular” contribu- the classical result Zg共␤ → 0兲 = ␤−1 to be recovered. This re-
tion of the field, each corpuscle being an independent packet quirement leads to C = E0, and
of energy ប␻—the photon.14 It is clear from Eq. 共54兲 that the
discrete structure of the field will manifest itself at very low E0
temperatures, where the linear term dominates the quadratic, Z g共 ␤ 兲 = . 共58兲
sinh E0␤
wave-like one. However, as stressed by Einstein, both terms
coexist at all temperatures.3 As follows from Eq. 共10兲, the entropy is given 共up to an
additive constant兲 by

C. Disclosing the zero-point energy S = − k ln共sinh E0␤兲 + kE0␤ coth E0␤ + k ln E0

According to Einstein, the first term on the right-hand side − k具ln g典 + c, 共59兲
of Eq. 共54兲, UT2 , is a manifestation of the wave-like nature of where the constant c is introduced to fix S共T = 0兲 = 0,
the 共monochromatic兲 thermal field, and the second term, c = −k ln 2E0 + k具ln g典, and therefore Eq. 共59兲 reduces to
2E0UT, reflects its quantum aspect. No zero-point energy is
共z = ប␻ / kT = 2E0␤兲
considered and a corpuscular property of the radiation field
emerges. However, we have seen that the acceptance of a S共z兲 = − k ln共2 sinh E0␤兲 + kE0␤ coth E0␤ , 共60兲
zero-point energy gives rise to an alternative understanding
of Eq. 共54兲. The interference interpretation of the term UT2 which coincides with the result Eq. 37 in Ref. 1 共with k = 1兲.
suggests in this case that the term 2E0UT is due to additional
interference between the thermal field and a zero-point field
ultimately responsible for the zero-point energy. There is no
B. The origin of discreteness
extra contribution E20 in Eq. 共54兲 which represents interfer-
ence among the modes of the zero-point field itself because We now discuss the discontinuities characteristic of the
the present thermodynamic description has no room for quantum formalism, which are hidden in the continuous de-
temperature-independent fluctuations of the zero-point en- scription given by the probability distribution Wg. To this end
ergy. we expand Eq. 共58兲 and write15
Within this new approach no intrinsic discontinuities in ⬁
the field or in the energy interchanges are needed to derive 1 e−E0␤
Planck’s law, and the existence of a zero-point energy is Zg = 2E0 = 2E0 = 2E0 兺 e−E0␤共2n+1兲 ,
2 sinh E0␤ 1 − e−2E0␤ n=0
enough to understand the equilibrium spectrum that follows
from Eqs. 共51兲 and 共54兲. This interpretation could not be that 共61兲
of Planck or Einstein because the zero-point energy was un-
known at that time. We have now seen that these different or
approaches provide three different perspectives for the same ⬁

quantity UT2 + 2E0UT. Zg = 2E0 兺 e−␤En , 共62兲

n=0

V. CONTINUOUS VERSUS DISCRETE with En ⬅ 共2n + 1兲E0. Equation 共62兲 allows us to determine
the function g共E兲 by means of the relation 共8兲,

冕
Our discussion reinforces the conclusion about the relation ⬁
⬁
dE = 2E0 兺 e−␤En ⬅ 2E0Z,
between the zero-point energy and Planck’s law. Thus we are −␤E
led to investigate the relation between the zero-point energy Z g共 ␤ 兲 = g共E兲e 共63兲
0 n=0
and quantization. Is quantization necessarily linked to
Planck’s law? where we have introduced the dimensionless partition func-
tion
⬁
A. The partition function 1
Z = 兺 e −␤En = . 共64兲
As follows from Eq. 共17兲, once U共␤兲 is known we can n=0 2 sinh E0␤
determine the partition function Zg共␤兲 by direct integration Thus, g共E兲 can be expressed as
of
⬁
d ln Zg共␤兲 g共E兲 = 2E0 兺 ␦共E − En兲. 共65兲
U=− . 共55兲
d␤ n=0

From Eq. 共36兲 we have The substitution of Eqs. 共63兲 and 共65兲 in Eq. 共7兲 results in

951 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 76, No. 10, October 2008 de la Peña, Valdés-Hernández, and Cetto 951
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 ⬁ lent to the quantum description in which temperature-
1
Wg共E兲 = 兺 ␦共E − En兲e−␤E . 共66兲
Z n=0
This probability distribution gives for the mean value of any
function f共E兲 关see Eq. 共9兲兴
冕 ⬁ ⬁
1
具f共E兲典 =
0
Wg共E兲f共E兲dE = 兺 f共En兲e−␤En
Z n=0
⬁
= 兺 wn f共En兲, 共67兲
n=0
where we have introduced the weights
−␤En −␤En
e e
wn = = ⬁ . 共68兲
Z 兺n=0 e −␤En
Equation 共67兲 shows that the mean value of any function of
the continuous variable E weighted by the probability distri-
bution Wg共E兲 can equivalently be written as an average
weighted by wn over a set of discrete indices n. Because we
are describing a canonical ensemble, the structure of wn sug-
gests the identification of the quantity En with the discrete
energy levels of the quantum oscillators including the zero-
point energy, as follows from Eq. 共62兲.
Although both averages calculated using Wg and wn are
formally equivalent, their descriptions are essentially differ-
ent because they refer to a continuous or a discrete energy,
respectively. The expansion in Eq. 共67兲 allows us to pass
from a description involving an average over the continuous
variable E to one involving a summation over discrete states
n. Because the energy En in this context is completely char-
acterized by these states, it is natural to interpret the right-
hand side of Eq. 共67兲 as a manifestation of the discrete nature
of the energy. The mechanism leading to this discreteness is
due to the highly pathological distribution g共E兲.
These observations show how deeply the introduction of a
zero-point energy agrees with the quantum notions intro-
duced by Planck and Einstein, and emphasize the fundamen-
tal role of the zero-point energy in explaining quantization, it
being at the root of Eq. 共61兲 and hence of Eq. 共65兲.
VI. A QUANTUM STATISTICAL PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTION
Our analysis leads us to conclude that although E is a
continuous variable, its mean values corresponding to the
thermodynamic states of a canonical ensemble of oscillators
are extremely peaked and approximate a discrete spectrum
very closely. This result explains why the mean value 具f共E兲典,
which corresponds to an equilibrium state, involves only the
discrete set En.
We note that the energy still fluctuates and can acquire
values from among a continuous spectrum.16 As was stated
in Sec. III B, the existence of a zero-point energy in the
thermodynamic description of the harmonic oscillator re-
quires a more general probability distribution 共instead of Wg兲
which can account for all fluctuations of the energy, includ-
ing any temperature-independent contribution. That such
probability distribution must exist follows from our results
showing that the zero-point energy approach 共starting from a
continuous energy distribution兲 led to a result that is equiva-
952 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 76, No. 10, October 2008
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independent fluctuations appear as a characteristic property
of quantum systems.
A. Temperature-independent fluctuations
The probability distribution appropriate for considering all
fluctuations cannot be of the form of Eq. 共7兲, as is clear from
the conclusion following Eq. 共41兲 and from the previous dis-
cussion. To generalize Eq. 共41兲 to include zero-point fluctua-
tions we look for a probability distribution Ws共E兲 that maxi-
mizes the entropy and that yields
共␴E2 兲s = U2 共69兲
for all temperatures. 共The subscript s denotes averages with
respect to Ws, to be distinguished from the mean values cal-
culated with Wg.兲 That is, we require 共E2兲s = 2U2. The re-
quirement 共69兲 stems from considering that the fluctuations
arise from interference among a large number of independent
modes belonging to the same frequency, and therefore the
central limit theorem applies.
According to the maximum entropy formalism,7 a prob-
ability distribution satisfying these constraints is given by
1 −E/U
Ws共E兲 = e . 共70兲
U
The choice U = ␤−1共E0 = 0兲 results in the usual canonical
probability distribution Eq. 共13兲 and leads to the classical
expression, Eq. 共41兲. But for the temperature-independent
energy E0 ⫽ 0, U is given by Planck’s law and the resulting
total fluctuations are 关with UT given by Eq. 共44兲兴
共␴E2 兲s = U2 = 共UT + E0兲2 = UT2 + 2E0UT + E20 . 共71兲
Equation 共71兲 shows that Eq. 共41兲 can be generalized to in-
clude the temperature-independent energy and fluctuations
for E0 ⫽ 0. In the description given by Ws the energy does not
have a fixed value at zero temperature, but is allowed to
fluctuate with the variance E20 which represents the
temperature-independent fluctuations. For the thermal fluc-
tuations we obtain from Eq. 共71兲
共␴E2 兲T = 共␴E2 兲s − E20 = UT2 + 2E0UT , 共72兲
in agreement with Eq. 共43兲, because Wg and Ws must yield
the same thermal averages.
Let us now write the total energy as two fluctuating parts,
E = ET + E0 , 共73兲
where ET and E0 represent the thermal and temperature-
independent energies, respectively. The total fluctuations are
共␴E2 兲s = ␴E2 + ␴E2 + 2⌫共ET,E0兲 = UT2 + 2E0UT + E20 , 共74兲
T 0
where ⌫共ET , E0兲 is the covariance of its arguments,
⌫共ET,E0兲 ⬅ 具ETE0典 − 具ET典具E0典. 共75兲
To write the second equality in Eq. 共74兲 we used Eq. 共71兲. If
we use Eq. 共72兲 for ␴E2 and let ␴E2 = E20, we obtain
T 0
⌫共ET , E0兲 = 0, which shows that the fluctuations of ET and E0
are statistically independent, as is expected due to the inde-
pendence of their sources.
The fact that 共␴E2 兲s ⫽ 0 at T = 0 confirms that Ws is not
limited to a thermodynamic description but affords a statis-
de la Peña, Valdés-Hernández, and Cetto 952
 tical one, which includes fluctuations other than thermal. 1 2/2␴2 1 2/2␴2
W共p,q兲 = W p共p兲Wq共q兲 = e−p e−q ,
冑 冑
p q
Hence, the corresponding entropy Ss, defined using Ws in Eq.
共6兲, does not coincide with the thermal entropy in Eq. 共3兲 2␲␴2p 2␲␴2q
derived from Wg, because the former should accommodate 共83兲
the new source of fluctuations. This entropy is given by
where ␴2p = mU and ␴2q = U / m␻2. Thus, we find that

Ss = − k 冕 Ws ln WsdE = k ln U + k, 共76兲
␴2q␴2p =
U 2 E 0 ␴ ET
=
2

␻2 ␻2 ␻2
+
2

艌
E20 ប2
= ,
␻2 4
共84兲

from which it follows that
⳵Ss k
= .
⳵U U
A comparison with the 共thermal兲 entropy, which satisfies
⳵S 1
= ,
⳵U T
shows that the two entropies coincide only when E0 = 0 共and
consequently U = kT兲. The existence of a fluctuating
temperature-independent energy can be accommodated by
introducing a “statistical” entropy Ss, as was done here, or
equivalently a redefinition of the temperature, ␤ → 1 / U共␤兲.
A discussion of these matters is given in Ref. 17.
B. Quantum fluctuations and zero-point energy
We have seen that the statistical description given by the
probability distribution Ws in Eq. 共70兲 is linked to zero-point
fluctuations and that the zero-point energy is crucial in going
from a classical description to a quantum one. We next in-
vestigate how these temperature-independent fluctuations
manifest themselves in the statistical properties of the en-
semble of oscillators.
Let us focus our attention on the position q and momen-
tum p of the oscillator, which are related to its energy ac-
cording to
E = 共p2 + m2␻2q2兲/2m.
To this end we should go from the energy probability distri-
bution given by Eq. 共70兲 to the probability distribution
W共p , q兲 defined in the phase space 共q , p兲. We first note that
W共E兲 represents a reduced probability distribution in the
action-angle variables space 共E , ␪兲 共we omit the subscript s兲
where we have used Eq. 共40兲 共with ␴E2 written appropriately
as ␴E2 兲 to write the second equality, and E0 = ប␻ / 2 in the last
T
共77兲 one. We see that the magnitude of ␴2q␴2p is bounded from
below because of the fluctuations of the zero-point energy
共the minimum value ប2 / 4 is reached when all thermal fluc-
tuations have been suppressed兲. Equation 共84兲 allows us to
identify the origin of the Heisenberg inequalities with the
共78兲 presence of a fluctuating zero-point energy. Therefore, the
descriptions afforded by thermal probability distributions
such as Wg cannot account for the meaning of these inequali-
ties. This result stresses again the fact that once a zero-point
energy has been introduced into the theory, new probability
distributions 共specifically statistical rather than thermody-
namic兲 are needed to include its fluctuations and to obtain
the corresponding quantum statistical properties. Note that
the Heisenberg inequalities should be understood as referring
to ensemble averages, due to the statistical nature of
Eq. 共84兲.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors acknowledge several valuable suggestions
and comments by Professor T. H. Boyer and an unknown
referee, which helped to improve the manuscript. One of
the authors 共A.V.H.兲 acknowledges financial support from
the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología under Grant
No. 210314.
APPENDIX A: THE VALUE OF Šln g„E…‹
The mean value of a function f共E兲 calculated with Wg
共79兲 given by Eq. 共66兲 is
具f共E兲典 = 兺 f共Em兲wm , 共A1兲
m
as given in Eq. 共67兲. We apply Eq. 共A1兲 to the function g
given by Eq. 共65兲,
⬁

W共E兲 = 冕
0
2␲
W共E, ␪兲d␪ , 共80兲
f共E兲 = ln g共E兲 = ln 兺 2E0␦共E − En兲.
n=0
共A2兲

We have

冋兺 册
where ⬁

W共E, ␪兲dEd␪ = W共p,q兲dpdq. 共81兲 具ln g典 = 兺 ln 2E0␦共Em − En兲 wm . 共A3兲

m n=0
Because W共E , ␪兲 does not depend on ␪ for the equilibrium We write the resulting single contribution for n = m as 1 / ␧.
state, Eqs. 共79兲 and 共81兲 lead to18 Even if this contribution is formally infinite 共so ␧ → 0兲, what

W共p,q兲 =
␻
2␲U
exp − 冉
p 2 + m 2␻ 2q 2
2mU
. 冊 共82兲
is relevant here is that it is a number independent of m and
can therefore be taken out of the sum, which results in
1 1
This probability distribution, which is known in quantum 具ln g典 = ln 兺 wm = ln ␧ .
␧ m
共A4兲
theory as the Wigner function,19 can be factorized as a prod-
uct of two normal probability distributions, Thus, we verify that 具ln g典 is a constant independent of ␤.

953 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 76, No. 10, October 2008 de la Peña, Valdés-Hernández, and Cetto 953
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 APPENDIX B: ALTERNATIVE METHOD FOR
DETERMINING THE PARITY OF ␴E2„U… 冉
E0 E0 +
a1
2
冊 冋 冉 冊
␤+
a1 1
2 2
sinh 2 E0 +
a1
2
␤

We found in Sec. III A that the invariance of ␴E2 under the

inversion E → −E determines the parity of the function 冉 冊册 冉 冊
− sinh2 E0 +
a1
2
␤ = E0 +
a1
2
2
␤. 共B9兲
␴E2 共U兲, thus eliminating the linear term in Eq. 共30兲. Here we
present an alternative way to arrive at this result for both the Because we are assuming q ⫽ 0 共and thus 共E0 + a1 / 2兲 ⫽ 0兲, it
classical and quantum cases. follows that a1 must be 0 for Eq. 共B9兲 to be satisfied for any
We start from the more general expression that follows value of ␤. Observe that for E0 ⬎ 0 the even parity of ␴E2 共U兲
from ␴E2 共U兲 = m2 − U2 and Eq. 共30兲 with a2 = 2, is a direct consequence of Wien’s law.

␴E2 共U兲 = a0 + a1U + U2 . 共B1兲

Equations 共20兲 and 共B1兲 give APPENDIX C: GENERAL FORM FOR ␴E2„U…
dU In Sec. III A we obtained for ␴E2 共U兲 a polynomial solution
= − d␤ . 共B2兲
a 0 + a 1U + U 2 that allows for a zero-point energy 关see Eq. 共33兲兴,
By following a procedure similar to the one that led from Eq. ␴E2 = U2 − E20 , 共C1兲
共34兲 to Eq. 共35兲 we obtain
and satisfies the required boundary conditions as a function

冦 冧
1 a1 of the temperature at T = 0 and at T → ⬁. Any additional con-
− , for q = 0; tribution to ␴E2 , which we write as ␹2共U兲, as in Eq. 共29兲, has
␤ 2
U共␤兲 = 共B3兲
冑q 冑q
a1
to satisfy the conditions
coth ␤ − , for q ⬎ 0, ␹2共U兲 = 0 for T = 0 and T → ⬁. 共C2兲
2 2 2
Let us assume that such a function exists. In this case we
where q ⬅ a21 − 4a0. The roots of ␴E2 = 0 are write
− a 1 冑q M r = m r + ␹ r, 共r ⬎ 1兲, 共C3兲
U⫾ = ⫾ . 共B4兲
2 2 where mr is polynomial of degree r obtained as a solution of
Because E0 corresponds to the largest of the roots U⫾ 共the the recurrence relation Eq. 共24兲 putting ␹2共U兲 = 0. For r = 1
other one is unphysical兲, we have we take ␹1共U兲 = 0, because M 1 = m1 = U. Substitution of Eq.
共C3兲 into the recurrence relation gives
− a 1 冑q
E0 = + . 共B5兲 mr+1 + ␹r+1 = Umr + U␹r + 共m2 + ␹2 − U2兲共mr⬘ + ␹r⬘兲,
2 2
共C4兲
If the theory admits a zero value for U at T = 0, then ␴E2 共U兲
from which we can subtract the equation satisfied by the
reduces to U2 and both a0 and a1 must be set equal to 0. In
polynomial solutions mr
this case we obtain from Eq. 共B3兲 the classical equipartition
result U = ␤−1. mr+1 = Umr + 共m2 − U2兲mr⬘ . 共C5兲
If the theory allows for a zero-point energy E0 ⫽ 0, then q
can in principle acquire a value different from 0. From Eqs. Hence we are left with
共B3兲 and 共B5兲 with q ⬎ 0 we obtain ␹r+1 = U␹r + 共m2 − U2兲␹r⬘ + ␹2共mr⬘ + ␹r⬘兲, 共C6兲

冉
U共␤兲 = E0 +
a1
2
冊 冉
coth E0 +
a1
2
␤−
a1
2
冊 共B6a兲
which shows that ␹2 is the source of ␹r for r ⬎ 2. Because the
mr already satisfy the boundary conditions for the complete
solutions M r, the additional functions must satisfy
冑q 冑 q 冑q ␹r共U兲 = 0 for T = 0 and T → ⬁. 共C7兲
=E0 − + coth ␤. 共B6b兲
2 2 2 From the recurrence relation Eq. 共24兲 it is easy to show by
Note that Eq. 共B6兲 together with Eq. 共20兲 gives the variance direct calculation that all derivatives of ␹r must be zero at
as a function of ␤, high temperatures, so these functions should decrease expo-

冉 冊
nentially at infinity, that is, more rapidly that any polynomial.
q 冑q The moments M r will therefore be little affected by ␹r at low
␴E2 = − U⬘ = coth2 ␤−1 . 共B7兲 and at high temperatures, and the deviations can be signifi-
4 2
cant if they exist only for a limited range of energies. These
In contrast, Eq. 共2兲 is equivalent to the relation deviations are neither required by Planck’s law nor have they

冉 冊 冉 冊
been observed experimentally. Thus, it is a good approxima-
⳵U U T ⳵U tion 共if not exact兲 to take ␹2 = 0, from which it follows that all
− =− . 共B8兲 remaining ␹r, r ⬎ 2, also vanish.
⳵␻ T ␻ ␻ ⳵T ␻
We consider an interesting property of the moments mr. As
If we take into account that E0 = constant⫻ ␻ and introduce follows from Eq. 共C5兲 they are given by polynomials of
Eq. 共B6a兲 in Eq. 共B8兲, we obtain degree r:

954 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 76, No. 10, October 2008 de la Peña, Valdés-Hernández, and Cetto 954
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 r spectrum without quantum assumptions,” Phys. Rev. 182, 1374–1383
mr = 兺 a共r兲 n
n U , 共r 艌 1兲. 共C8兲
n=0
The coefficients a共r兲
n are determined by the recurrence rela-
tions, which give
a共r+1兲
n
共r兲
= nan−1 共r兲
+ 共n + 1兲a0an+1 . 共C9兲
These solutions have the property that the normalized mo-
ments Mr ⬅ mr / Ur = 兺n=0r
a共r兲
n /U
r−n
have a finite value as U
共r兲
→ ⬁ given by ar = r!, according to Eq. 共27兲. For a system in
thermodynamic equilibrium we expect the distribution not to
be abnormally wide so that the Mr 共and the normalized cen-
tral moments兲 remain finite for all values of U, as is the case
here. In the classical case all coefficients a共r兲 共r兲
n except ar must
vanish for the Mr to remain finite as T 共and hence as U兲
goes to zero; this requirement reduces all moments to their
classical values given by Eq. 共27兲.
a兲
Electronic mail: luis@fisica.unam.mx
b兲
On leave of absence at the International Atomic Energy Agency, P.O. Box
200, A-1400 Vienna, Austria.
1 Translated into English by Anna Beck in the accompanying translation,
T. H. Boyer, “Thermodynamics of the harmonic oscillator: Wien’s dis-
placement law and the Planck spectrum,” Am. J. Phys. 71, 866–870
共2003兲.
2 V. Vedral, Modern Foundations of Quantum Optics 共Imperial College
M. Planck, “Über eine Verbesserung der Wienschen Spektralgleichung,”
Verh. Dtsch. Phys. Ges. 2, 202–204 共1900兲. English translation in Ref. 4.
See also M. Planck, “Über das Gesetz der Energieverteilung im Normal-
spektrum,” Ann. Phys. 4, 553–563 共1901兲.
3
A. Einstein, “Zum gegenwärtigen Stand des Strahlungsproblems,” Phys.
Z. 10, 185–193 共1909兲. English translation in Ref. 4.
4
D. ter Haar, The Old Quantum Theory 共Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1967兲.
English translations of the Einstein’s papers cited here also appear in The
Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 2: The Swiss Years: Writings,
1900–1909 共English translation supplement, translated by Anna Beck
共Princeton U.P., 1989兲.
5
As demonstrated in Ref. 6, the single dependence of the zero-point en-
ergy on frequency allowed by special relativity is E0共␻兲 ⬃ ␻. The previ-
ous classical thermodynamic calculation leads to the same expression,
Eq. 共5兲. The Schrödinger equation provides a similar prediction for the
ground state energy of a particle in a harmonic oscillator potential.
6
That the single spectrum of the zero-point radiation field which is con-
sistent with relativity 共and hence with electromagnetic theory兲 corre-
sponds to E0共␻兲 ⬃ ␻ has been demonstrated independently by several
authors. The earliest such demonstrations are by T. W. Marshall, “Ran-
dom electrodynamics,” Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 276, 475–491
共1963兲; E. Santos, “Is there an electromagnetic background radiation un-
derlying the quantum phenomena?,” An. R. Soc. Esp. Fis. Quim. LXIV,
317–320 共1968兲; T. H. Boyer, “Derivation of the blackbody radiation
955 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 76, No. 10, October 2008
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202.28.191.34 On: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 22:06:00
共1969兲. See also P. W. Milonni, The Quantum Vacuum 共Academic, New
York, 1994兲, Chap. 2.
7
E. W. Montroll and M. F. Shlesinger, “Maximum entropy formalism,
fractals, scaling phenomena, and 1/f noise: A tale of tails,” J. Stat. Phys.
32, 209–230 共1983兲.
8
See, for example, K. Huang, Statistical Mechanics 共Wiley, New York,
9
1963兲.
A. Einstein, “Die Plancksche Theorie der Strahlung und die Theorie der
spezifischen Wärme,” Ann. Phys. 22, 180–190 共1907兲. English transla-
10
tion in the Collected Papers, Ref. 13.
Einstein considered the probability distribution in Eq. 共7兲 assuming from
the start a form for the function g共E兲 equivalent to Eq. 共65兲, as was
dictated by the quantization discovered by Planck. Here we let the theory
determine g共E兲, moving in the opposite sense.
11
A short early account of the material in this section was given in L. de la
Peña and A. M. Cetto, “Planck’s Law as a consequence of the zeropoint
radiation field,” Rev. Mex. Fis. 48 Suppl. 1, 1–8 共2002兲.
12
For consistency in notation, we continue to write the specific heat as C␻;
it coincides with the specific heat at constant volume, so the usual nota-
tion in this context is CV.
13
Letter from Einstein to Conrad Habicht; May 18 or 25 1905, in The
Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 5, The Swiss Years, Correspon-
dence, 1902–1914, edited by Martin J. Klein, A. J. Kox, and Robert
Schulmann 共Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1993兲, pp. 31–32.
pp. 19–20. A discussion of this point is given by J. S. Ridgen, “Einstein’s
revolutionary paper,” 具physicsworld.com/cws/article/print/21818典.
14
Press, London, 2005兲, Chap. 3.
15
Related discussions are given in E. Santos, “Comment on ‘Presenting the
Planck’s relation E = nh␯’,” Am. J. Phys. 43 743–744 共1975兲; O. The-
imer, “Blackbody spectrum and the interpretation of the quantum theory,”
Am. J. Phys. 44, 183–185 共1976兲; P. T. Landsberg, “Einstein and statis-
tical thermodynamics. II. Oscillator quantisation,” Eur. J. Phys. 2, 208–
212 共1981兲.
16
We should take into account at least the fluctuations that lead to the
natural linewidth. See, for example, W. H. Louisell, Quantum Statistical
Properties of Radiation 共Wiley, New York, 1973兲, Chap. 5.
17
T. H. Boyer, “Classical statistical thermodynamics and electromagnetic
zero-point radiation,” Phys. Rev. 186, 1304–1318 共1969兲. Boyer uses the
terms caloric and probabilistic entropies instead of thermal and statistical,
respectively, used here.
18
The factor ␻ is the absolute value of the Jacobian of the canonical trans-
formation from the space E , ␪ to the space q , p for the harmonic oscilla-
tor. See, for example, G. R. Grimmett and D. R. Stirzaker, Probability
and Random Processes 共Clarendon, Oxford, 1983兲, Chap. 4; A. Papoulis,
Probability, Random Variables, and Stochastic Processes 共McGraw–Hill,
Boston, 1991兲, Chap. 6.
19
M. Hillery, R. F. O’Connell, M. O. Scully, and E. P. Wigner, “Distribu-
tion functions in physics: Fundamentals,” Phys. Rep. 106, 121–167
共1984兲.
de la Peña, Valdés-Hernández, and Cetto 955