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Robert Ringstad1
Department of Physics, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, Ill 60625
Dated: December 21, 2016
Abstract
In the modeling of the interactions between particles, a potential energy function which depends only
on the square of the position is commonly chosen. However, this hamonic potential fails to accurately
describe the real interactions that occur within many physical systems. By adding in anharmonicity to
the potential, more realistic solutions can be obtained. In the realm of quantum systems, modifying the
potential energy by adding a small change (or perturbation) can be studied through Time-Independent
Perturbation Theory. It is the goal of this work to explore perturbations of the harmonic potential, a
model system which in one dimension does not require the use of degenerate perturbation theory.
Contents
(1)
1
m 2 x2 .
2
(2)
(3)
The use of a non-dimensionalized variable transforms which can be substituted into (9).
(4) into the following form:
After judicious manipulation, and carefully redefin
ing
sums to all start at the same initial index, (9) be2
d
2E
= x02 +
.
(5) comes [UP TO HERE WITH EQN REFERENCES]
02
dx
h
X
With our non-dimensionalized differential equation
[(j + 1)(j + 2)aj+2 + ( 2j 1)aj ] x0j = 0.
in hand, an analytic solution can be developed by first
j=0
considering the asymptotic behavior of the problem.
(13)
In particular, when the value of |x| increases without
0j
bound, the first term on the RHS of (5) dominates Because the x s form a linearly independant set, we
0j
strongly over the second term on the RHS. Consid- can equate the coefficient of x to zero. This yields a
ering this dominating feature, the Schr
odinger Equa- recursion relation for the coefficients aj , namely that
tion reads:
2j + 1
d2
aj .
(14)
aj+2 =
02
x
.
(6)
(j
+ 1)(j + 2)
dx02
This is a common differential equation with a well
In order for (x0 ) to be an admissible factor of our
known solution, solvable through many methods (in- wavefunction, we suppose that there must be some
cluding power series expansion in terms of x0 ). Solu- highest n where an = 0. In other words, the infinite
tions of (6) are
series in (11) is in fact, a finite series.
02
(x0 ) Aex
/2
+ Bex
02
/2
= 2n + 1
1
For this solution to be an admissible wavefunction, it
En = n +
h
(15)
2
must go to zero as the independant variable goes to
. This requires us to set B = 0, so our solution By supposing the series must truncate, we are forcing
now reads
a quantization condition on the energy. Substituing
02
(x0 ) Aex /2
(7) back into (15), we find that
If we suppose that the solution to the original, un2(n j)
aj+2 =
(16)
simplified differential equation is a product of the
(j + 1)(j + 2)
form in (7) with a function depending on x0 , we can
where n is the energy level of the solution that is
substitute the following ansatz into (5).
being
sought.
02
(x0 ) = (x0 )ex /2
(8)
(18) can be recognized as the recursion relation for
Hermite
Polynomials, denoted Hn . Recalling that
After substitution into (5) and some algebraic maour
wavefunction
is
nipulation, the following differential equation in results, where
2E
h
.
d2
d
2x0 0 +
dx02
dx
(x0 ) =
aj x0j .
/2
02
n (x0 ) =
(10)
m 1/4
h
02
1
Hn (x0 )ex /2 .
n
2 n!
(17)
X
d
=
jaj x0j1
(11) A generating formula for the terms in Hermite polydx0
nomials, the Rodrigues Formula,
j=1
2
X
n
d
2
d
=
j(j 1)aj x0j2
(12)
n x2
02
Hn (x) = (1) e
ex
(19)
dx
j=2
dx
j=0
=
p
+
(m
x
)
+
tum harmonic oscillator, and
a graph can be ob +
p m
2hm
2
1, so x0 = x,
tained. For simplicity, let
h
1
1
to make graphing easier.
H +
a
a
+ =
h
2
n
n (x)
m 1/4 x2 /2
e
h
2
m 1/4
(2x) ex /2
4
h
2
m 1/4
2x2 1 ex /2
4
h
2
m 1/4
2x3 3x ex /2
9
h
1/4
2
m
4x4 12x2 + 3 ex /2
576
h
(23)
Similarly,
En
1
1
H .
(24)
h
2
3
By presupposing that a
+ n and a
n are eigenh
1
2
values
of
H
,
we
find
that
the
action
of a
+ is to raise
5
2
h
the solution an energy level, corresponding to the en2
7
ergy being raised by a unit of h
. The action of a
is
h
3
2
to lower the energy level of the solution, correspond9
4
h
ing to the energy being lowered by a unit of h
. In
2
this manner, a
+ is called the raising operator, while
a
is called the lowering operator. Through another
Table 1: Wavefunctions and energies for n = 0 means, we have recovered that
through n = 4.
1
En = n +
h.
(25)
2
0
a
+ a
=
1
h
2
If we apply a
to the ground state of the system,
0 , we should hit a wall. That is,
a
0 = 0.
(26)
n (x) = An (
a+ ) 0 (x)
(28)
1.2
Algebraic Approach
Time-Independent Perturbation Theory gets its By taking the inner product in the same manner as
before, the second order energy correction is
start by supposing that we can write
H = H (0) + H 0
(32)
En(2) =
2
(0)
(0)
X hm |H 0 | n i
.
(38)
(0)
(0)
En Em
where 0 < 1. is effectively a placeholder to
m6=n
aid in algebraic manipulation, and will be set to one.
Using the second order energy correction, we can
Now, we expand n and En in terms of a power series
find the first order correction to the wavefunction.
in .
To do so, we use the fact that we can express our
X
j (j)
n =
n
(33) first order correction to the wavefunction as a linear
combination of the uncorrected wavefunction.
j=0
X
(1)
(0)
=
c(1)
(39)
n
mn m
En =
j En(j)
(34)
m6=n
j=0
=
(40)
n
(0)
(0)
H (0) n(1) + H 0 n(0) = En(0) n(1) + En(1) n(0) . (35)
En Em
m6=n
(0)
(1)
H 0 =
x
(41)
H = x
(42)
3.1
Linear Perturbation
(0)
(0)
(0)
x2
H (0) = m
= m
( n + 1n+1 + nn1 )dx
2
Z
Z
H 0 =
x,
(44)
(0) (0)
(0) (0)
n1 dx (52)
= n + 1 m n+1 + n m
the full Hamiltonian reads
If m 6= n + 1, the first term in (55) vanishes, while if
1
m 6= n 1, the second term vanishes. This says that
H = m
x2 +
x.
(45)
m = n 1 are the only terms which appear in (52).
2
The term where m = n + 1 is
The first order energy level correction is
2
(0)
(0)
a+ + a
)| n i
n + 12
hn+1 |(
(1)
(0)
0
(0)
En = hn |H | n i
=
n (n + 1)
nn1
(0)
(0)
= hn |
x| n i
= (n + 1),
(53)
En(1) = hn(0) |
x| n(0) i
(46)
while the term with m = n 1 is
2
(0)
which is just the expectation value of position for the
(0)
2
a+ + a
)| n i
hn1 |(
| n|
harmonic oscillator (times )! Since we know this to
=
n (n 1)
nn+1
be zero, we find that
= n.
(54)
En(1) = 0
(47)
Plugging into (52) yields our second correction to the
energy,
Now, we move on to the second order corrections.
2
First, the energy correction is given by
En(2) =
(55)
2m 2
2
(0)
(0)
X hm |H 0 | n i
Interestingly, this expression for the energy correcEn(2) =
(0)
(0)
tion does not depend on the energy level. Rather, it
En Em
m6=n
is a constant for all energy levels.
2
(0)
(0)
x| n i
Using the expression for the first correction to the
hm |
X
=
wavefunction,
with direct parallels to the calculations
n + 12
h m + 21
h
m6=n
yielding the second correction to the energy, one finds
2
that
(0)
(0)
x
|
i
2 X hm |
n
(2)
En =
(48)
2 (0)
(0)
h
nm
n(1) =
n
n
+
1
(56)
n1
n+1
m6=n
2m 2
which we substitute expression (46) into. This gives
2
En(2) =
2m 2
2
(0)
(0)
a+ + a
)| n i
X hm |(
m6=n
nm
(49)
a
+ n = n + 1n+1
(50)
a
n = nn1 .
(51)
5
3.2
Cubic Perturbation
i
2 X hm x
n
=
h
nm
m6=n
2
(0)
3 (0)
a
+
a
i
2 2 X hm (
n
+
h
(62)
En(2) =
3
4
8m
nm
Moving to the cubic case, the unperturbed Hamiltonian and the linear perturbation are
1
m
x2
2
H 0 = x
3 ,
H (0) =
(57)
1
m
x2 + x
3 .
2
(58)
m6=n
#3
"r
(
a+ + a
)
2m
3/2
h
=
(
a+ + a
)3 .
2m
x
3 =
x
=
h
2m
3/2
(
a3+
a
+ a
2
a
2+ a
a
a
2+
a
2 a
+
+a
+ a
a
+ +
+a
a
+ a
+
(59)
a
3 ).
Term
hm | n i = 0
m 6= n + 3
m 6= n + 1
m 6= n + 1
m 6= n + 1
m 6= n 1
m 6= n 1
m 6= n 1
m 6= n 3
Expectation Value
n n+1
3
n+1
(n + 2) n + 1
(n 1) n
3
( n)
(n + 1) n
n n1 n2
.
(63)
same number
of
raising
and
lowering
operators.
To
3
3 (0)
compute x
n i, we can notice that after the action
When m = n + 1, the contribution is
(0)
3
of x
, an even | n i will become odd, and visa versa.
2
Therefore, because of the orthonormality of the even
(64)
n + 1 n + 3 n + 2 + 2n + 3 .
and odd solutions,
When m = n 1 gives
En(1) = 0
9n3 ,
(61)
6
(65)
while m = n 3 contributes
(n)(n 1)(n 2)
.
3
(66)
2
h2
(27n3 + n(n 1)(n 2)
24m3 4
(67)
3(n + 1)( n + 3 n + 2 + 2n + 3)2
(n + 1)(n + 2)(n + 3))
Conclusion
References
[1] David J. Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, (Addison-Wesley, San Francisco, 2nd. Ed., 2002),
p. 40-59
[2] David J. Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, (Addison-Wesley, San Francisco, 2nd. Ed., 2002),
p. 249-257