coherent state

Third update of aggregate notes for phy1520, Graduate Quantum Mechanics.

November 9, 2015 phy1520 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve posted a third update of my aggregate notes for PHY1520H Graduate Quantum Mechanics, taught by Prof. Arun Paramekanti. In addition to what was noted previously, this contains lecture notes up to lecture 13, my solutions for the third problem set, and some additional worked practice problems.

Most of the content was posted individually in the following locations, but those original documents will not be maintained individually any further.

More on (SHO) coherent states

November 4, 2015 phy1520 , , , ,

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[1] pr. 2.19(c)

Show that \( \Abs{f(n)}^2 \) for a coherent state written as

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:gradQuantumProblemSet2Problem1:561}
\ket{z} = \sum_{n=0}^\infty f(n) \ket{n}
\end{equation}

has the form of a Poisson distribution, and find the most probable value of \( n\), and thus the most probable energy.

A:

The Poisson distribution has the form

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:gradQuantumProblemSet2Problem1:581}
P(n) = \frac{\mu^{n} e^{-\mu}}{n!}.
\end{equation}

Here \( \mu \) is the mean of the distribution

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:gradQuantumProblemSet2Problem1:601}
\begin{aligned}
\expectation{n}
&= \sum_{n=0}^\infty n P(n) \\
&= \sum_{n=1}^\infty n \frac{\mu^{n} e^{-\mu}}{n!} \\
&= \mu e^{-\mu} \sum_{n=1}^\infty \frac{\mu^{n-1}}{(n-1)!} \\
&= \mu e^{-\mu} e^{\mu} \\
&= \mu.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

We found that the coherent state had the form

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:gradQuantumProblemSet2Problem1:621}
\ket{z} = c_0 \sum_{n=0} \frac{z^n}{\sqrt{n!}} \ket{n},
\end{equation}

so the probability coefficients for \( \ket{n} \) are

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:gradQuantumProblemSet2Problem1:641}
\begin{aligned}
P(n)
&= c_0^2 \frac{\Abs{z^n}^2}{n!} \\
&= e^{-\Abs{z}^2} \frac{\Abs{z^n}^2}{n!}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

This has the structure of the Poisson distribution with mean \( \mu = \Abs{z}^2 \). The most probable value of \( n \) is that for which \( \Abs{f(n)}^2 \) is the largest. This is, in general, hard to compute, since we have a maximization problem in the integer domain that falls outside the normal toolbox. If we assume that \( n \) is large, so that Stirling’s approximation can be used to approximate the factorial, and also seek a non-integer value that maximizes the distribution, the most probable value will be the closest integer to that, and this can be computed. Let

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:gradQuantumProblemSet2Problem1:661}
\begin{aligned}
g(n)
&= \Abs{f(n)}^2 \\
&= \frac{e^{-\mu} \mu^n}{n!} \\
&= \frac{e^{-\mu} \mu^n}{e^{\ln n!}} \\
&\approx e^{-\mu – n \ln n + n } \mu^n \\
&= e^{-\mu – n \ln n + n + n \ln \mu }
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

This is maximized when

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:gradQuantumProblemSet2Problem1:681}
0
= \frac{dg}{dn}
= \lr{ – \ln n – 1 + 1 + \ln \mu } g(n),
\end{equation}

which is maximized at \( n = \mu \). One of the integers \( n = \lfloor \mu \rfloor \) or \( n = \lceil \mu \rceil \) that brackets this value \( \mu = \Abs{z}^2 \) is the most probable. So, if an energy measurement is made of a coherent state \( \ket{z} \), the most probable value will be one of

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:gradQuantumProblemSet2Problem1:701}
E = \Hbar \lr{
\lceil\Abs{z}^2\rceil
+ \inv{2} },
\end{equation}

or

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:gradQuantumProblemSet2Problem1:721}
E = \Hbar \lr{
\lfloor\Abs{z}^2\rfloor
+ \inv{2} },
\end{equation}

References

[1] Jun John Sakurai and Jim J Napolitano. Modern quantum mechanics. Pearson Higher Ed, 2014.

PHY1520H Graduate Quantum Mechanics. Lecture 5: time evolution of coherent states, and charged particles in a magnetic field. Taught by Prof. Arun Paramekanti

October 1, 2015 phy1520 , , , , , , , , , , , ,

[Click here for a PDF of this post with nicer formatting]

Disclaimer

Peeter’s lecture notes from class. These may be incoherent and rough.

These are notes for the UofT course PHY1520, Graduate Quantum Mechanics, taught by Prof. Paramekanti, covering \textchapref{{1}} [1] content.

Coherent states (cont.)

A coherent state for the SHO \( H = \lr{ N + \inv{2} } \Hbar \omega \) was given by

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:20}
a \ket{z} = z \ket{z},
\end{equation}

where we showed that

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:40}
\ket{z} = c_0 e^{ z a^\dagger } \ket{0}.
\end{equation}

In the Heisenberg picture we found

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:60}
\begin{aligned}
a_{\textrm{H}}(t) &= e^{i H t/\Hbar} a e^{-i H t/\Hbar} = a e^{-i\omega t} \\
a_{\textrm{H}}^\dagger(t) &= e^{i H t/\Hbar} a^\dagger e^{-i H t/\Hbar} = a^\dagger e^{i\omega t}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Recall that the position and momentum representation of the ladder operators was

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:80}
\begin{aligned}
a &= \inv{\sqrt{2}} \lr{ \hat{x} \sqrt{\frac{m \omega}{\Hbar}} + i \hat{p} \sqrt{\inv{m \Hbar \omega}} } \\
a^\dagger &= \inv{\sqrt{2}} \lr{ \hat{x} \sqrt{\frac{m \omega}{\Hbar}} – i \hat{p} \sqrt{\inv{m \Hbar \omega}} },
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

or equivalently
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:100}
\begin{aligned}
\hat{x} &= \lr{ a + a^\dagger } \sqrt{\frac{\Hbar}{ 2 m \omega}} \\
\hat{p} &= i \lr{ a^\dagger – a } \sqrt{\frac{m \Hbar \omega}{2}}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Given this we can compute expectation value of position operator

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:120}
\begin{aligned}
\bra{z} \hat{x} \ket{z}
&=
\sqrt{\frac{\Hbar}{ 2 m \omega}}
\bra{z}
\lr{ a + a^\dagger }
\ket{z} \\
&=
\lr{ z + z^\conj } \sqrt{\frac{\Hbar}{ 2 m \omega}} \\
&=
2 \textrm{Re} z \sqrt{\frac{\Hbar}{ 2 m \omega}} .
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Similarly

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:140}
\begin{aligned}
\bra{z} \hat{p} \ket{z}
&=
i \sqrt{\frac{m \Hbar \omega}{2}}
\bra{z}
\lr{ a^\dagger – a }
\ket{z} \\
&=
\sqrt{\frac{m \Hbar \omega}{2}}
2 \textrm{Im} z.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

How about the expectation of the Heisenberg position operator? That is

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:160}
\begin{aligned}
\bra{z} \hat{x}_{\textrm{H}}(t) \ket{z}
&=
\sqrt{\frac{\Hbar}{2 m \omega}} \bra{z} \lr{ a + a^\dagger } \ket{z} \\
&=
\sqrt{\frac{\Hbar}{2 m \omega}} \lr{ z e^{-i \omega t} + z^\conj e^{i \omega t}} \\
&=
\sqrt{\frac{\Hbar}{2 m \omega}} \lr{ \lr{z + z^\conj} \cos( \omega t ) -i \lr{ z – z^\conj } \sin( \omega t) } \\
&=
\sqrt{\frac{\Hbar}{2 m \omega}} \lr{ \expectation{x(0)} \sqrt{ \frac{2 m \omega}{\Hbar}} \cos( \omega t ) -i \expectation{p(0)} i \sqrt{\frac{2 m \omega}{\Hbar} } \sin( \omega t) } \\
&=
\expectation{x(0)} \cos( \omega t ) + \frac{\expectation{p(0)}}{m \omega} \sin( \omega t) .
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

We find that the average of the Heisenberg position operator evolves in time in exactly the same fashion as position in the classical Harmonic oscillator. This phase space like trajectory is sketched in fig. 1.

fig. 1. phase space like trajectory

fig. 1. phase space like trajectory

In the text it is shown that we have the same structure for the Heisenberg operator itself, before taking expectations

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:220}
\hat{x}_{\textrm{H}}(t)
=
{x(0)} \cos( \omega t ) + \frac{{p(0)}}{m \omega} \sin( \omega t).
\end{equation}

Where the coherent states become useful is that we will see that the second moments of position and momentum are not time dependent with respect to the coherent states. Such states remain localized.

Uncertainty

First note that using the commutator relationship we have

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:180}
\begin{aligned}
\bra{z} a a^\dagger \ket{z}
&=
\bra{z} \lr{ \antisymmetric{a}{a^\dagger} + a^\dagger a } \ket{z} \\
&=
\bra{z} \lr{ 1 + a^\dagger a } \ket{z}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

For the second moment we have

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:200}
\begin{aligned}
\bra{z} \hat{x}^2 \ket{z}
&=
\frac{\Hbar}{ 2 m \omega}
\bra{z} \lr{a + a^\dagger } \lr{a + a^\dagger } \ket{z} \\
&=
\frac{\Hbar}{ 2 m \omega}
\bra{z} \lr{
a^2 + {(a^\dagger)}^2 + a a^\dagger + a^\dagger a
} \ket{z} \\
&=
\frac{\Hbar}{ 2 m \omega}
\bra{z} \lr{
a^2 + {(a^\dagger)}^2 + 2 a^\dagger a + 1
} \ket{z} \\
&=
\frac{\Hbar}{ 2 m \omega}
\lr{ z^2 + {(z^\conj)}^2 + 2 z^\conj z + 1} \ket{z} \\
&=
\frac{\Hbar}{ 2 m \omega}
\lr{ z + z^\conj }^2
+
\frac{\Hbar}{ 2 m \omega}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

We find

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:240}
\sigma_x^2 = \frac{\Hbar}{ 2 m \omega},
\end{equation}

and

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:260}
\sigma_p^2 = \frac{m \Hbar \omega}{2}
\end{equation}

so

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:280}
\sigma_x^2 \sigma_p^2 = \frac{\Hbar^2}{4},
\end{equation}

or

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:300}
\sigma_x \sigma_p = \frac{\Hbar}{2}.
\end{equation}

This is the minimum uncertainty.

Quantum Field theory

In Quantum Field theory the ideas of isolated oscillators is used to model particle creation. The lowest energy state (a no particle, vacuum state) is given the lowest energy level, with each additional quantum level modeling a new particle creation state as sketched in fig. 2.

fig. 2. QFT energy levels

fig. 2. QFT energy levels

We have to imagine many oscillators, each with a distinct vacuum energy \( \sim \Bk^2 \) . The Harmonic oscillator can be used to model the creation of particles with \( \Hbar \omega \) energy differences from that “vacuum energy”.

Charged particle in a magnetic field

In the classical case ( with SI units or \( c = 1 \) ) we have

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:320}
\BF = q \BE + q \Bv \cross \BB.
\end{equation}

Alternately, we can look at the Hamiltonian view of the system, written in terms of potentials

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:340}
\BB = \spacegrad \cross \BA,
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:360}
\BE = – \spacegrad \phi – \PD{t}{\BA}.
\end{equation}

Note that the curl form for the magnetic field implies one of the required Maxwell’s equations \( \spacegrad \cdot \BB = 0 \).

Ignoring time dependence of the potentials, the Hamiltonian can be expressed as

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:380}
H = \inv{2 m} \lr{ \Bp – q \BA }^2 + q \phi.
\end{equation}

In this Hamiltonian the vector \( \Bp \) is called the canonical momentum, the momentum conjugate to position in phase space.

It is left as an exercise to show that the Lorentz force equation results from application of the Hamiltonian equations of motion, and that the velocity is given by \( \Bv = (\Bp – q \BA)/m \).

For quantum mechanics, we use the same Hamiltonian, but promote our position, momentum and potentials to operators.

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:400}
\hat{H} = \inv{2 m} \lr{ \hat{\Bp} – q \hat{\BA}(\Br, t) }^2 + q \hat{\phi}(\Br, t).
\end{equation}

Gauge invariance

Can we say anything about this before looking at the question of a particle in a magnetic field?

Recall that the we can make a gauge transformation of the form

\label{eqn:qmLecture5:420a}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:420}
\BA \rightarrow \BA + \spacegrad \chi
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:440}
\phi \rightarrow \phi – \PD{t}{\chi}
\end{equation}

Does this notion of gauge invariance also carry over to the Quantum Hamiltonian. After gauge transformation we have

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:460}
\hat{H}’
= \inv{2 m} \lr{ \hat{\Bp} – q \BA – q \spacegrad \chi }^2 + q \lr{ \phi – \PD{t}{\chi} }
\end{equation}

Now we are in a mess, since this function \( \chi \) can make the Hamiltonian horribly complicated. We don’t see how gauge invariance can easily be applied to the quantum problem. Next time we will introduce a transformation that resolves some of this mess.

Question: Lorentz force from classical electrodynamic Hamiltonian

Given the classical Hamiltonian

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:381}
H = \inv{2 m} \lr{ \Bp – q \BA }^2 + q \phi.
\end{equation}

apply the Hamiltonian equations of motion

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:480}
\begin{aligned}
\ddt{\Bp} &= – \PD{\Bq}{H} \\
\ddt{\Bq} &= \PD{\Bp}{H},
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

to show that this is the Hamiltonian that describes the Lorentz force equation, and to find the velocity in terms of the canonical momentum and vector potential.

Answer

The particle velocity follows easily

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:500}
\begin{aligned}
\Bv
&= \ddt{\Br} \\
&= \PD{\Bp}{H} \\
&= \inv{m} \lr{ \Bp – a \BA }.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

For the Lorentz force we can proceed in the coordinate representation

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:520}
\begin{aligned}
\ddt{p_k}
&= – \PD{x_k}{H} \\
&= – \frac{2}{2m} \lr{ p_m – q A_m } \PD{x_k}{}\lr{ p_m – q A_m } – q \PD{x_k}{\phi} \\
&= q v_m \PD{x_k}{A_m} – q \PD{x_k}{\phi},
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

We also have

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:540}
\begin{aligned}
\ddt{p_k}
&=
\ddt{} \lr{m x_k + q A_k } \\
&=
m \frac{d^2 x_k}{dt^2} + q \PD{x_m}{A_k} \frac{d x_m}{dt} + q \PD{t}{A_k}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Putting these together we’ve got

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:560}
\begin{aligned}
m \frac{d^2 x_k}{dt^2}
&= q v_m \PD{x_k}{A_m} – q \PD{x_k}{\phi},
– q \PD{x_m}{A_k} \frac{d x_m}{dt} – q \PD{t}{A_k} \\
&=
q v_m \lr{ \PD{x_k}{A_m} – \PD{x_m}{A_k} } + q E_k \\
&=
q v_m \epsilon_{k m s} B_s + q E_k,
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

or

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:580}
\begin{aligned}
m \frac{d^2 \Bx}{dt^2}
&=
q \Be_k v_m \epsilon_{k m s} B_s + q E_k \\
&= q \Bv \cross \BB + q \BE.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Question: Show gauge invariance of the magnetic and electric fields

After the gauge transformation of \ref{eqn:qmLecture5:420} show that the electric and magnetic fields are unaltered.

Answer

For the magnetic field the transformed field is

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:600}
\begin{aligned}
\BB’
&= \spacegrad \cross \lr{ \BA + \spacegrad \chi } \\
&= \spacegrad \cross \BA + \spacegrad \cross \lr{ \spacegrad \chi } \\
&= \spacegrad \cross \BA \\
&= \BB.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture5:620}
\begin{aligned}
\BE’
&=
– \PD{t}{\BA’} – \spacegrad \phi’ \\
&=
– \PD{t}{}\lr{\BA + \spacegrad \chi} – \spacegrad \lr{ \phi – \PD{t}{\chi}} \\
&=
– \PD{t}{\BA} – \spacegrad \phi \\
&=
\BE.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

References

[1] Jun John Sakurai and Jim J Napolitano. Modern quantum mechanics. Pearson Higher Ed, 2014.

PHY1520H Graduate Quantum Mechanics. Lecture 4: Quantum Harmonic oscillator and coherent states. Taught by Prof. Arun Paramekanti

September 29, 2015 phy1520 , , , ,

[Click here for a PDF of this post with nicer formatting]

Disclaimer

Peeter’s lecture notes from class. These may be incoherent and rough. This lecture reviewed a lot of quantum harmonic oscillator theory, and wouldn’t make sense without having seen raising and lowering operators (ladder operators), number operators, and the like.

These are notes for the UofT course PHY1520, Graduate Quantum Mechanics, taught by Prof. Paramekanti, covering [1] chap. 2 content.

Classical Harmonic Oscillator

Recall the classical Harmonic oscillator equations in their Hamiltonian form

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:40}
\ddt{x} = \frac{p}{m}
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:60}
\ddt{p} = -k x.
\end{equation}

With

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:140}
\begin{aligned}
x(t = 0) &= x_0 \\
p(t = 0) &= p_0 \\
k &= m \omega^2,
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

the solutions are ellipses in phase space

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:100}
x(t) = x_0 \cos(\omega t) + \frac{p_0}{m \omega} \sin(\omega t)
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:120}
p(t) = p_0 \cos(\omega t) – m \omega x_0 \sin(\omega t).
\end{equation}

After a suitable scaling of the variables, these elliptical orbits can be transformed into circular trajectories.

Quantum Harmonic Oscillator

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:160}
\hat{H} = \frac{\hat{p}^2}{2 m} + \inv{2} k \hat{x}^2
\end{equation}

Set

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:200}
\hat{X} = \sqrt{\frac{m \omega}{\Hbar}} \hat{x}
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:220}
\hat{P} = \sqrt{\inv{m \omega \Hbar}} \hat{p}
\end{equation}

The commutators after this change of variables goes from

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:240}
\antisymmetric{ \hat{x}}{\hat{p}} = i \Hbar,
\end{equation}

to
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:260}
\antisymmetric{ \hat{X}}{\hat{P}} = i.
\end{equation}

The Hamiltonian takes the form

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:280}
\begin{aligned}
\hat{H}
&= \frac{\Hbar \omega}{2} \lr{ \hat{X}^2 + \hat{P}^2 } \\
&= \Hbar \omega \lr{ \lr{ \frac{\hat{X} -i \hat{P}}{\sqrt{2}} } \lr{ \frac{\hat{X} +i \hat{P}}{\sqrt{2}}} + \inv{2} }.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Define ladder operators (raising and lowering operators respectively)

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:320}
\hat{a}^\dagger = \frac{\hat{X} -i \hat{P}}{\sqrt{2}}
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:340}
\hat{a} = \frac{\hat{X} +i \hat{P}}{\sqrt{2}}
\end{equation}

so

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:360}
\hat{H} = \Hbar \omega \lr{ \hat{a}^\dagger \hat{a} + \inv{2} }.
\end{equation}

We can show

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:380}
\antisymmetric{\hat{a}}{\hat{a}^\dagger} = 1,
\end{equation}

and

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:400}
N \ket{n} \equiv \hat{a}^\dagger a = n \ket{n},
\end{equation}

where \( n \ge 0 \) is an integer. Recall that

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:420}
\hat{a} \ket{0} = 0,
\end{equation}

and

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:440}
\bra{X} X + i P \ket{0} = 0.
\end{equation}

With

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:460}
\braket{x}{0} = \Psi_0(x),
\end{equation}

we can show

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:480}
\inv{\sqrt{2}} \lr{ X + \PD{X}{} } \Psi_0(X) = 0.
\end{equation}

Also recall that

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:520}
\hat{a} \ket{n} = \sqrt{n} \ket{n-1}
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:540}
\hat{a}^\dagger \ket{n} = \sqrt{n + 1} \ket{n+1}
\end{equation}

Coherent states

Coherent states for the quantum harmonic oscillator are the eigenkets for the creation and annihilation operators

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:580}
\hat{a} \ket{z} = z \ket{z}
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:600}
\hat{a}^\dagger \ket{\tilde{z}} = \tilde{z} \ket{\tilde{z}} ,
\end{equation}

where

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:620}
\ket{z} = \sum_{n = 0}^\infty c_n \ket{n},
\end{equation}

and \( z \) is allowed to be a complex number.

Looking for such a state, we compute

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:640}
\begin{aligned}
\hat{a} \ket{z}
&= \sum_{n=1}^\infty c_n \hat{a} \ket{n} \\
&= \sum_{n=1}^\infty c_n \sqrt{n} \ket{n-1}
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

compare this to

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:660}
\begin{aligned}
z \ket{z}
&=
z \sum_{n=0}^\infty c_n \ket{n} \\
&=
\sum_{n=1}^\infty c_n \sqrt{n} \ket{n-1} \\
&=
\sum_{n=0}^\infty c_{n+1} \sqrt{n+1} \ket{n},
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

so

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:680}
c_{n+1} \sqrt{n+1} = z c_n
\end{equation}

This gives

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:700}
c_{n+1} = \frac{z c_n}{\sqrt{n+1}}
\end{equation}

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:720}
\begin{aligned}
c_1 &= c_0 z \\
c_2 &= \frac{z c_1}{\sqrt{2}} = \frac{z^2 c_0}{\sqrt{2}} \\
\vdots &
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

or

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:740}
c_n = \frac{z^n}{\sqrt{n!}}.
\end{equation}

So the desired state is

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:760}
\ket{z} = c_0 \sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{z^n}{\sqrt{n!}} \ket{n}.
\end{equation}

Also recall that

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:780}
\ket{n} = \frac{\lr{ \hat{a}^\dagger }^n}{\sqrt{n!}} \ket{0},
\end{equation}

which gives

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:800}
\begin{aligned}
\ket{z}
&= c_0 \sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{\lr{z \hat{a}^\dagger}^n }{n!} \ket{0} \\
&= c_0 e^{z \hat{a}^\dagger} \ket{0}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

The normalization is

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:820}
c_0 = e^{-\Abs{z}^2/2}.
\end{equation}

While we have \( \braket{n_1}{n_2} = \delta_{n_1, n_2} \), these \( \ket{z} \) states are not orthonormal. Figuring out that this overlap

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:840}
\braket{z_1}{z_2} \ne 0,
\end{equation}

will be left for homework.

Dynamics

We don’t know much about these coherent states. For example does a coherent state at time zero evolve to a coherent state?

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:860}
\ket{z} \stackrel{?}{\rightarrow} \ket{z(t)}
\end{equation}

It turns out that these questions are best tackled in the Heisenberg picture, considering

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:880}
e^{-i \hat{H} t/\Hbar } \ket{z}.
\end{equation}

For example, what is the average of the position operator

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:900}
\bra{z} e^{i \hat{H} t/\Hbar } \hat{x} e^{-i \hat{H} t/\Hbar } \ket{z}
=
\sum_{n, n’ = 0}^\infty
\bra{n} c_n^\conj e^{i E_n t/\Hbar}
\lr{ a + a^\dagger} \sqrt{ \frac{\Hbar}{m \omega} }
c_{n’} e^{i E_{n’} t/\Hbar}
\ket{n}.
\end{equation}

This is very messy to attempt. Instead if we know how the operator evolves we can calculate

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:920}
\bra{z} \hat{x}_{\textrm{H}}(t) \ket{z},
\end{equation}

that is

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:940}
\expectation{\hat{x}}(t) = \bra{z} \hat{x}_{\textrm{H}}(t) \ket{z},
\end{equation}

and for momentum

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:960}
\expectation{\hat{p}}(t) = \bra{z} \hat{p}_{\textrm{H}}(t) \ket{z}.
\end{equation}

The question to ask is what are the expansions of

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:1000}
\hat{a}_{\textrm{H}}(t) = e^{i \hat{H} t/\Hbar} \hat{a} e^{-i \hat{H} t/\Hbar}.
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:1020}
\hat{a}^\dagger_{\textrm{H}}(t) = e^{i \hat{H} t/\Hbar} \hat{a}^\dagger e^{-i \hat{H} t/\Hbar}.
\end{equation}

The question to ask is how do these operators ask on the basis states

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:1040}
\begin{aligned}
\hat{a}_{\textrm{H}}(t) \ket{n}
&= e^{i \hat{H} t/\Hbar} \hat{a} e^{-i \hat{H} t/\Hbar} \ket{n} \\
&= e^{i \hat{H} t/\Hbar} \hat{a} e^{-i t \omega (n + 1/2)} \ket{n} \\
&=
e^{-i t \omega (n + 1/2)}
e^{i \hat{H} t/\Hbar}
\sqrt{n} \ket{n-1} \\
&=
\sqrt{n}
e^{-i t \omega (n + 1/2)}
e^{i t \omega (n – 1/2)}
\ket{n-1} \\
&=
\sqrt{n} e^{-i \omega t} \ket{n-1} \\
&=
e^{-i \omega t} \ket{n}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

So we have found

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:qmLecture4:1060}
\begin{aligned}
\hat{a}_{\textrm{H}}(t) &= a e^{-i\omega t} \\
\hat{a}^\dagger_{\textrm{H}}(t) &= a^\dagger e^{i\omega t}
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

References

[1] Jun John Sakurai and Jim J Napolitano. Modern quantum mechanics. Pearson Higher Ed, 2014.