Derivation of 1D harmonic oscillator

The harmonic oscillator is an extremely important physics problem. Many potentials look
like a harmonic oscillator near their minimum. This is the first non-constant potential for which
we will solve the Schrödinger Equation.

The harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian is given by

which makes the Schrödinger Equation for energy eigenstates

Note that this potential also has a Parity symmetry. The potential is unphysical because it does
not go to zero at infinity, however, it is often a very good approximation, and this potential can
be solved exactly.

It is standard to remove the spring constant from the Hamiltonian, replacing it with the
classical oscillator frequency.

W=
√
k
m
The Harmonic Oscillator Hamiltonian becomes.

The differential equation to be solved is

Note that this potential also has a Parity

symmetry. The potential is unphysical because it does not go to zero at infinity, however, it is
often a very good approximation, and this potential can be solved exactly.

It is standard to remove the spring constant from the Hamiltonian, replacing it with the
classical oscillator frequency.

The Harmonic Oscillator Hamiltonian becomes.

The differential equation to be solved is

To solve the Harmonic Oscillator equation, we will first change to dimensionless variables, then

find the form of the solution for , then multiply that solution by a polynomial,
derive a recursion relation between the coefficients of the polynomial, show that the polynomial
series must terminate if the solutions are to be normalizable, derive the energy eigenvalues, then
finally derive the functions that are solutions.

The energy eigenvalues are

for . There are a countably infinite number of solutions with equal

energy spacing. We have been forced to have quantized energies by the requirement that the
wave functions be normalizable.

The ground state wave function is.

This is a Gaussian (minimum uncertainty) distribution. Since the HO potential has a parity
symmetry, the solutions either have even or odd parity. The ground state is even parity.

The first excited state is an odd parity state, with a first order polynomial multiplying the same
Gaussian.
The second excited state is even parity, with a second order polynomial multiplying the same
Gaussian.

Note that is equal to the number of zeros of the wavefunction. This is a common trend. With
more zeros, a wavefunction has more curvature and hence more kinetic energy.

The general solution can be written as

with the coefficients determined by the recursion relation

and the dimensionless variable given by.

The series terminates with the last nonzero term having .

In statistical mechanics, Maxwell–Boltzmann statistics describes the distribution of classical
material particles over various energy states in thermal equilibrium. It is applicable when the
temperature is high enough or the particle density is low enough to render quantum effects
negligible.

The expected number of particles with energy ei for maxwell–Boltzmann statistics is

 k is Boltzmann's constant,
 T is absolute temperature,
 N is the total number of particles:
Short Note :
1. Statistical mechanics
In physics, specifically statistical mechanics, an ensemble (also statistical ensemble) is an idealization
consisting of a large number of virtual copies (sometimes infinitely many) of a system, considered all at
once, each of which represents a possible state that the real system might be in. In other words, a
statistical ensemble is a probability distribution for the state of the system. The concept of an ensemble
was introduced by J. Willard Gibbs in 1902.
A thermodynamic ensemble is a specific variety of statistical ensemble that, among other properties, is
in statistical equilibrium (defined below), and is used to derive the properties of thermodynamic systems
from the laws of classical or quantum mechanics.

The study of thermodynamics is concerned with systems that appear to human perception to be
"static" (despite the motion of their internal parts), and which can be described simply by a set of
macroscopically observable variables. These systems can be described by statistical ensembles
that depend on a few observable parameters, and which are in statistical equilibrium. Gibbs noted
that different macroscopic constraints lead to different types of ensembles, with particular
statistical characteristics. Three important thermodynamic ensembles were defined by Gibbs:[1]

 Microcanonical ensemble or NVE ensemble—a statistical ensemble where the total

energy of the system and the number of particles in the system are each fixed to particular
values; each of the members of the ensemble are required to have the same total energy
and particle number. The system must remain totally isolated (unable to exchange energy
or particles with its environment) in order to stay in statistical equilibrium.[1]
 Canonical ensemble or NVT ensemble—a statistical ensemble where the energy is not
known exactly but the number of particles is fixed. In place of the energy, the
temperature is specified. The canonical ensemble is appropriate for describing a closed
system which is in, or has been in, weak thermal contact with a heat bath. In order to be
in statistical equilibrium, the system must remain totally closed (unable to exchange
particles with its environment) and may come into weak thermal contact with other
systems that are described by ensembles with the same temperature.[1]
 Grand canonical ensemble or μVT ensemble—a statistical ensemble where neither the
energy nor particle number are fixed. In their place, the temperature and chemical
potential are specified. The grand canonical ensemble is appropriate for describing an
open system: one which is in, or has been in, weak contact with a reservoir (thermal
contact, chemical contact, radiative contact, electrical contact, etc.). The ensemble
remains in statistical equilibrium if the system comes into weak contact with other
systems that are described by ensembles with the same temperature and chemical
potential.[1]

The calculations that can be made using each of these ensembles are explored further in their
respective articles. Other thermodynamic ensembles can be also defined, corresponding to
different physical requirements, for which analogous formulae can often similarly be derived.
For example in the reaction ensemble, particle number fluctuations are only allowed to occur
according to the stoichiometry of the chemical reactions which are present in the system
2. Partition function

In physics, a partition function describes the statistical properties of a system in thermodynamic

equilibrium.[citation needed] Partition functions are functions of the thermodynamic state variables,
such as the temperature and volume. Most of the aggregate thermodynamic variables of the
system, such as the total energy, free energy, entropy, and pressure, can be expressed in terms of
the partition function or its derivatives. The partition function is dimensionless, it is a pure
number.

Each partition function is constructed to represent a particular statistical ensemble (which, in

turn, corresponds to a particular free energy). The most common statistical ensembles have
named partition functions. The canonical partition function applies to a canonical ensemble, in
which the system is allowed to exchange heat with the environment at fixed temperature,
volume, and number of particles. The grand canonical partition function applies to a grand
canonical ensemble, in which the system can exchange both heat and particles with the
environment, at fixed temperature, volume, and chemical potential. Other types of partition
functions can be defined for different circumstances; see partition function (mathematics) for
generalizations. The partition function has many physical meanings, as discussed in Meaning and
significance

3. Photon statistics

is the theoretical and experimental study of the statistical distributions produced in photon
counting experiments, which use Photodetectors to analyze the intrinsic statistical nature of
photons in a light source. In these experiments, light incident on the photodetector generates
photoelectrons and a counter registers electrical pulses generating a statistical distribution of
photon counts. Low intensity disparate light sources can be differentiated by the corresponding
statistical distributions produced in the detection process.

Three regimes of statistical distributions can be obtained depending on the properties of the light
source: Poissonian, super-Poissonian, and sub-Poissonian.[1] The regimes are defined by the
relationship between the variance and average number of photon counts for the corresponding
distribution. Both Poissonian and super-Poissonian light can be described by a semi-classical
theory in which the light source is modeled as an electromagnetic wave and the atom is modeled
according to quantum mechanics. In contrast, sub-Poissonian light requires the quantization of
the electromagnetic field for a proper description and thus is a direct measure of the particle
nature of light.

Photon statistics is the theoretical and experimental study of the statistical distributions
produced in photon counting experiments, which use Photodetectors to analyze the intrinsic
statistical nature of photons in a light source. In these experiments, light incident on the
photodetector generates photoelectrons and a counter registers electrical pulses generating a
statistical distribution of photon counts. Low intensity disparate light sources can be
differentiated by the corresponding statistical distributions produced in the detection process.

Three regimes of statistical distributions can be obtained depending on the properties of the light
source: Poissonian, super-Poissonian, and sub-Poissonian.[1] The regimes are defined by the
relationship between the variance and average number of photon counts for the corresponding
distribution. Both Poissonian and super-Poissonian light can be described by a semi-classical
theory in which the light source is modeled as an electromagnetic wave and the atom is modeled
according to quantum mechanics. In contrast, sub-Poissonian light requires the quantization of
the electromagnetic field for a proper description and thus is a direct measure of the particle
nature of light.
Kepler laws

Proof of Kepler 2nd law