Homework #4 — PHYS 622 — Fall 2016 Professor Victor Yakovenko

Due on Friday, October 7, 2016, online Office: 2115 Physics Building

Web page: http://physics.umd.edu/~yakovenk/teaching/
Textbook: Sakurai and Napolitano, Modern Quantum Mechanics,
2nd edition, Addison Wesley Pearson, 2011, ISBN 9780805382914
Total score is 55 points.

Ch. 2.3 Simple Harmonic Oscillator

1. Problem 2.16, 5 points. Correlation function.
Calculate the correlation function for the ground state of a 1D harmonic oscillator:

C(t) = h0| x(t) x(0) |0i, (1)

where x(t) is the position operator in the Heisenberg picture.
Hint: Express x(t) in terms of creation and annihilation operators using Eqs. (2.3.24)
and (2.3.43), and then use the rules (2.3.16) and (2.3.17). The answer is very simple
and can be obtained in one line.
This kind of calculation is routinely performed in a quantum field theory to evaluate
Green’s function of quantum fields.

2. Problem 2.17, 15 points. Superposition of |0i and |1i with maximal hxi.
Do as instructed in the book.

(a) Hint: Write a general normalized superposition state as

|αi = eiφ0 cos θ |0i + eiφ1 sin θ |1i, (2)

evaluate hα|x|αi using (2.3.25a), and chose φ0 , φ1 , and θ to maximize it.

(b) Hint: In the Schrödinger picture, insert the time dependence e−iE0 t/h̄ |0i and
e−iE1 t/h̄ |1i into Eq. (2) and re-evaluate hα, t|x|α, ti. In the Heisenberg picture,
use Eq. (2.3.45a). What is the expectation value hα|p(0)|αi for the state |αi
found in Part (a)?
(c) Hint: Given Eq. (1.4.51), you only need to evaluate hx2 i, since you already have
hxi2 from Part (b). In the Schrödinger picture, you can write and evaluate it as
P∞
n=0 hα, t|x|nihn|x|α, ti. In the Heisenberg picture, you can use the method from
Problem 1 to evaluate hα| x(t) x(t) |αi.

3. Problem 2.19 and Qualifier II-5, August 2011, 25 points. Coherent states.
Half of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2005 was awarded to Roy J. Glauber for his con-
tributions to the quantum theory of optical coherence and for his role in the discovery
of coherent states of the electromagnetic radiation field.
2 Homework #4, PHYS 622, Fall 2016, Prof. Yakovenko

Quantized electromagnetic radiation can be described using the harmonic oscillator

Hamiltonian Ĥ = h̄ω(â+ â + 21 ), which is defined in terms of the energy quantum h̄ω
and the creation and annihilation operators â+ and â. The energy eigenstates are the
eigenstates |ni of the number operator n̂ = â+ â, which are interpreted as the states
with n photons.

(a) Consider the coherent states, which are the eigenstates |λi of the annihilation
operator â with complex eigenvalues λ:

â|λi = λ|λi. (3)

The coherent states (3) can be expanded in terms of the number states as
∞
X
|λi = cn |ni. (4)
n=0
√
Substituting Eq. (4) into Eq. (3) and using the formula â|ni = n |n − 1i, derive
a recursion relation between the coefficients cn . Solve this recursion relation and
find cn up to an overall normalization constant.
(b) From the appropriate normalization condition for |λi, show that overall normal-
ization can be achieved by setting c0 = exp(−|λ|2 /2), where the real c0 is chosen
for simplicity.
(c) Show that the coherent states can be also obtained as
2 /2 †
|λi = e−|λ| eλâ |0i. (5)

(d) Calculate the probability P (n) = |hn|λi|2 of finding n photons in the coherent
state |λi and show that it is given by a Poisson distribution. Compare your result
with Eq. (2.3.54).
(e) Determine the mean number of photons hni in the coherent state |λi and the
variance hn2 i − hni2 .
(f ) Are coherent states with different λ1 and λ2 orthogonal? To answer this question,
calculate the inner product hλ1 |λ2 i.
(g) Do the coherent states form a complete set? Since the coherent states are not
discrete but continuous, consider the operator

ˆ 1Z 2
I= d λ |λihλ|, where d2 λ = dλ0 dλ00 (6)
π
is written in terms of the real and imaginary parts of λ = λ0 + iλ00 . Changing the
variables of integration to λ = reiθ , so that d2 λ = r dr dθ, and using the integrals
Z ∞
1 Z π i(n−m)θ
e dθ = δmn and e−u un du = n! , (7)
2π −π 0

show that Iˆ reduces to the unity operator 1, thereby proving completeness.

Homework #4, PHYS 622, Fall 2016, Prof. Yakovenko 3

4. 10 points. Wave functions and time dynamics of coherent states.

(a) Obtain the wave functions of a coherent state with the eigenvalue λ = λ0 + iλ00
in the position ψλ (x) and momentum φλ (p) representations. Show that these
wave functions have Gaussian shapes and minimize the position-momentum un-
certainty. Show that λ0 determines hxi and λ00 determines hpi, and the wave
functions ψλ (x) and φλ (p) are obtained by shifting the ground-state wave func-
tions ψ0 (x) and φ0 (p).
Hint: Using Eq. (2.3.2), compare Eq. (3) with Eq. (3) in Homework 2. In mo-
mentum representation, use x̂ = ih̄ ∂/∂p (see Problems 1.33 and 2.15).
(b) Suppose the system is in a coherent state with the eigenvalue λ(0) at time t =
0. Show that this state evolves into another coherent state with the eigenvalue
λ(t) = e−iωt λ(0) at a time t. As an implication, given the results of Part (a), show
that the expectation values hxi and hpi of this Gaussian wave packet follow the
classical equations of motion for an oscillator.
Hint: In the Schrödinger picture, you need to show that the time-evolved state
|λ(t)i = Û (t) |λ(0)i satisfies the equation

â |λ(t)i = λ(t) |λ(t)i, where λ(t) = e−iωt λ(0). (8)

But in the Heisenberg picture, we know from Eq. (2.3.43) that

Û † (t) â Û (t) |λ(0)i = â(t) |λ(0)i = e−iωt â |λ(0)i = e−iωt λ(0) |λ(0)i. (9)

Multiplying Eq. (9) by Û (t) from the left, prove Eq. (8).

September 30, 2016