Physics 70007, Fall 2009

Answers to HW set #1

September 27, 2009

1. Convince yourself that x̂ and p̂ are Hermitian operators, and show that the phonon creation
operator ↠is the Hermitian adjoint of the phonon destruction operator â.
Since position and momentum are observable quantities, the corresponding operators must be
Hermitian (as only Hermitian operators are guaranteed to have real eigenvalues). Thus we have
x̂† = x̂ and p̂† = p̂. So now consider the destruction operator (Sakurai (2.3.2a))
r  
mω ip̂
â = x̂ +
2~ mω

To take its Hermitian conjugate, we replace all numerical quantities by their complex conjugate
and all operators by their Hermitian conjugate: that is,
!
r †
† mω (−i) (p̂)
†
(â) = (x̂) +
2~ mω
r  
mω ip̂
= x̂ −
2~ mω

which is equivalent to the denition of the creation operator in Sakurai (2.3.2b). Thus we are in
fact justied in thinking of the creation operator ↠as the Hermitian adjoint of the destruction
operator.

2. As discussed in class, the requirement that the phonon destruction operator â annihilates the
ground state (â |0i = 0) is equivalent to a dierential equation for the ground state wave function
|0i.
(a) Solve this equation to nd the normalized ground state wave function of the oscillator. Identify
the length scale in the problem and interpret your result for the wave function.
To turn the equation for the state ket |0i into a dierential equation for the corresponding wave
function ψ0 (x) ≡ hx|0i, we sandwich the equation for the state ket with a position bra:
hx|â|0i = hx| 0 = 0

Then using the denition of â given above, and remembering that p̂ translates to −i~ ∂x
∂
in position
space, this becomes r  
mω i (−i~) d
x+ ψ0 (x) = 0
2~ mω dx

1
or
d
xψ0 + x20 ψ0 = 0
dx
q
where x0 ≡ mω ~
is a constant with the units of length. This rst-order, ordinary dierential
equation can be solved by separation of variables:
dψ0 1
= − 2 x dx
ψ0 x0

which, when integrated, gives

2
/2x20
ψ0 = N e−x
The constant of integration N is determined by the requirement that the wave function be normal-
ized: that is, ˆ ∞
2
|ψ0 (x)| dx = 1
−∞

Using our form for the wave function:

ˆ ∞
2
2 /x20
|N | e−x dx = 1
−∞
´∞
The needed integral is , giving
2
e−ax dx =
pπ
−∞ a

2 1
|N | = √
x0 π

This determines N up to a phase, which is all we should expect since this phase will not show up
in any matrix element involving ψ0 which we care to compute. Choosing N to be real and positive,
we nd for the normalized wave function
 1/4 x2
1 −
2x2
ψ0 (x) = e 0
πx20
or  mω 1/4 mω 2
ψ0 (x) = e− 2~ x
π~
in terms of the original constants in the Hamiltonian.q Notice that in our approach, we have
naturally identied the characteristic length scale x0 ≡ mω
~
for this problem; indeed, this is the
only constant with the units of length which could be assembled from the ingredients available to
us (namely m, ω , ~).

(b) Show that the expectation value of both the position and momentum (hx̂i and hp̂i) is zero.
We have
hx̂i = hψ0 |x̂|ψ0 i
ˆ ∞  1/4 2  1/4 2
1 − x2
2x0
1 − x2
2x0
= dx e x e
−∞ πx20 πx20
s ˆ ∞ 2
1 − x2
x0
= dx xe
πx20 −∞

Since we are integrating an odd function (i.e. one for which f (−x) = −f (x)) over a range in x
which is symmetric about x = 0, the value of the integral is zero.

2
Similarly, we have
hp̂i = hψ0 |p̂|ψ0 i
ˆ ∞  1/4 2  1/4 2
1 − x2
2x0
d 1 − x2
2x0
= dx e (−i~ ) e
−∞ πx20 dx πx20
s  ˆ ∞ 2
1 −1 − x2
x0
= (−i~) dx xe
πx20 x20 −∞

and again we are integrating an odd function over a symmetric range of integration, giving zero.
(c) Calculate the ground

 state

 expectation value of the kinetic and potential energy, and use your
results to show that x̂2 · p̂2 = ~2 /4.
There are at least two ways to do this problem: either directly, or by using the properties of the
raising and lowering operators (which

we will take as known). We will do the potential energy
directly: hV i = 21 mω 2 x̂2 = 12 mω 2 x̂2 , and setting things up as in part (b):



s ˆ ∞ 2
2 1 − x2
dx x2 e

 x0
x̂ =
πx20 −∞
´
To do this integral, we can take our relation −∞
∞
e−ax dx = πa and dierentiate both sides with
2 p
´ ∞ 2 −ax2
respect to a, which gives −∞ x e dx = 2 a3 . Applying this, we nd
1 π
p

s
2 1 1 √ 1
· x30 π = x20


x̂ = 2
πx0 2 2

and so    
1 2 1 2 1 2 ~ 1
hV i = mω x = mω = ~ω.
2 2 0 2 2mω 4
Now we will calculate hT i = p̂ /2m = (1/2m) p̂ . To get p̂ , we will rewrite p̂ in terms of

2 
2
2

raising and lowering operators: we have â and ↠in terms of x̂ and p̂, so we can easily solve for the
momentum (e.g.): r r
2~  mω  †

1 m~ω
â − â†


p̂ = â − â =
mω 2i i 2
and so
m~ω  2
2 
p̂2 = − â − â↠− ↠â + â†
2
When we take the expectation value of this expression, only the second term will give a non-zero
contribution! (We have used the facts that â annihilates
 the
ground
√ state√and
√ that dierent energy
states are orthogonal). The second term gives 0|â↠|0 = 0|â 1|1 = 1 1 h0|0i = 1, so

1 m~ω ~ω
hT i = · ·1= .
2m 2 4
Finally using our intermediate results, we have
~2
  
~ m~ω
x̂2 · p̂2 =



=
2mω 2 4
as desired.

3. (a) Start from the ground state (of the linear harmonic oscillator) and use the creation operator
↠dened in class to calculate explicitly the rst and second excited states.

3
In the previous problem, we found the ground state wave function to be
 1/4 x2
1 −
2x2
ψ0 (x) = e 0
πx20
q
where x0 ≡ mω ~
. We also found in class that the creation operator connects adjacent eigenstates:
in terms of the normalized states, we have
√
↠|ni = n + 1 |n + 1i
or, using the denition of ↠,
r  
1 mω ~ d
ψn+1 (x) = √ x− ψn (x)
n + 1 2~ mω dx
 
1 x d
= p − x0 ψn (x)
2(n + 1) x0 dx
So, starting with ψ0 , we can use this formula to calculate ψ1 and ψ2 in a straightforward way:
 1/4  x2
 x2

1 1 x − 2x2 −2x − 2x 2
ψ1 (x) = √ e 0 − x0 e 0
2 πx20 x0 2x20
 1/4 x2
4 x − 2x 2
= e 0
πx20 x0
and
 1/4  2 2  x2 x2
!
1 4 x − x2 −2x x − 2x 2 1 − 2x 2
ψ2 (x) = √ e 2x0
− x0 e 0 + e 0
4 πx20 x0 2x20 x0 x0
 1/4 (  2 )
2
1 x − x2
= 2 2 − 1 e 2x0
4πx0 x0

It is easy to check that these wave functions are, as expected, already properly normalized.

(b) Consider the parity transformation x → −x. By dention, a function has odd (even) parity if
it does (does not) change sign under the parity transformation. Find the parity (even or odd) of
the rst two excited states as well as the parity of the ground state. Use these parity properties of
the rst three states to infer the parity of an arbitrary excited state |ni.
The Gaussian factor in each wave function is even under parity. In ψ0 , the Gaussian is multiplied by
a constant which is parity-even, so the entire wave function has even parity. In ψ1 , the multiplying
factor is proportional to x, and thus odd under parity; thus ψ1 is odd. In ψ2 , we have the sum of
a constant and a quadratic, which are both even; so ψ2 is even. We would suspect, therefore, that
states with even n have even parity and that those with odd n have odd parity. This is conrmed
by looking at the form of ↠in position space: it is clear that it will transform an even function
into an odd one, and vice versa. Since ψ0 is even, the general pattern follows by induction.
note: The Hamiltonian itself is invariant under parity; from this one can show that all non-
degenerate eigenstates will have a denite parity.

(c) Calculate the excited


state expection value of the kinetic and potential energy, and use your
results to show that x̂2 · p̂2 = (n + 12 )2 ~2 .

4
As in problem 2c, we will do this problem by the abstract operator method rather than using the
explicit wavefunctions we calculated in part (a): solving for x̂ and p̂ in terms of â and ↠, we have
r r
1 2~ 1 m~ω
â + ↠â − â†



x̂ = p̂ =
2 mω i 2
and so
~
x̂2 â2 + â↠+ ↠â + â†2


=
2mω
m~ω 2
p̂2 â − â↠− ↠â + â†2


= −
2
When calculating the expectation value of these operators in the state |ni, only the second and
third terms will give nonzero contributions:
~ √ 2 √ 2 ~
x̂2


= n+1 + n = (2n + 1)
2mω 2mω

2 m~ω  √ 2 √ 2  m~ω
p̂ = − − n+1 − n = (2n + 1)
2 2
so it is indeed the case that x̂2 · p̂2 = (n + 12 )2 ~2 .




As for the potential and kinetic energy:

1 2n + 1
mω 2 x̂2 = ~ω


hV i =
2 4
1
2 2n + 1
hT i = p̂ = ~ω
2m 4
The total energy is split evenly between potential and kinetic, which had to be the case due to the
virial theorem in the case of an x2 potential.

4. Read through Park's paper on a nanomechanical oscillator ( Nature 407 , 57 (2000)) and try to
extract as many numerical parameters as you can about the nanomechanical oscillator: oscillator
mass, phonon energy/frequency/spring constant (all related), the uncertainty of the C60 in the
ground state and the few low lying excited states detected in the experiment, etc. When giving
length scales, it would be interesting to compare your results with the size of the C60 molecule
(about 7 Å).
The C60 molecule, which served as an oscillator in this experiment, has a mass of 1.2 × 10−24 kg. It
moves in a harmonic potential due to van der Waals interactions with a surface of gold atoms; based
on a binding energy of ~1 eV and an equilibrium distance of about 0.62 nm (which were measured
in previous experiments), the authors used a simple model of the overall potential to estimate the
value of the force constant (about 70 N/m). The corresponding energy spacing between vibrational
modes would be r
k
~ ≈ 5 × 10−3 eV
m
Just this energy spacing was observed (indirectly) in the experiment.
Moreover, in any oscillator state, the rms uncertainty in position is given by
r s
q
2 ~ √ ~ √
∆x = hx̂2 i − hx̂i = · 2n + 1 = √ · 2n + 1
2mω 2 km
which evaluates to about 3 pm for our oscillator in the ground state. The authors estimate that
when the C60 acquires an extra electron, the equilibrium distance from the gold surface shrinks by
~4 pm; hence we expect only a few (i.e. O(1)) vibrational modes to be excited in this process. This
is, again, what was observed.