HARMONIC OSCILLATOR: RELATIVISTIC CORRECTION

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References: Griffiths, David J. (2005), Introduction to Quantum Mechan-
ics, 2nd Edition; Pearson Education - Problem 6.14.
Post date: 15 Aug 2013.
Shankar, R. (1994), Principles of Quantum Mechanics, Plenum Press.
Section 7.4, Exercise 7.4.4.
We can apply the relativistic correction to the one-dimensional harmonic
oscillator as another example. When analyzing the hydrogen atom, we ar-
rived at this formula for the first order correction to the energy:

1
En1 = − hn0| (En0 − V )2 |n0i (1)
2mc2

where we’ve adjusted the wave functions so they apply to the harmonic
oscillator.
Before applying this formula, we should check a couple of things. First,
this formula was derived using non-degenerate perturbation theory. In the
one-dimensional oscillator this is fine, since there are no degenerate states.
Second, we assumed that the operator p4 was hermitian, and to check this
it is easiest to use the raising and lowering operators. We have
r
h̄mω
p=i (a+ − a− ) (2)
2
The raising and lowering operators transform one wave function into an-
other:

√
a+ |n0i = n + 1 |n + 1, 0i (3)
√
a− |n0i = n |n − 1, 0i (4)

Therefore, each application of p transforms the original wave function

into a linear combination of other wave functions and since p itself must
be hermitian (it represents an observable: the momentum) when applied to
any oscillator wave function, any power of p is also hermitian in the same
situation.
1
 HARMONIC OSCILLATOR: RELATIVISTIC CORRECTION 2

Having verified that the first order energy correction may be applied to
the harmonic oscillator, we can now plug in the values. The unperturbed
energies are

 
1
En0 = n + h̄ω (5)
2

From the virial theorem we know that hT i = hV i = 21 En0 so

1 2

2 

En1 = − E − 2E n0 hV i + V (6)
2mc2 " n0 #
  2   2
1 1 1 1
h̄ω + m2 ω 4 x4


=− 2
n+ h̄ω − n+
2mc 2 2 4
(7)
mω 4

= − 2 x4 (8)
8c

To calculate x4 , we can use the raising and lowering operators again.


We have

r
h̄
x = (a+ + a− ) (9)
2mω
h̄
x2 a2+ + a+ a− + a− a+ + a2−


= (10)
2mω

Since x4 = hn0| x4 |n0i, the two wave functions involved in calculating


the mean value are the same (both |n0i) and hn0| m0i = δmn , any combi-
nation of a+ and a− that converts |n0i into a different wave function will
not contribute to the overall integral, so we need consider only those terms
in the operator x4 with equal numbers of a+ and a− . Retaining only these
terms, we get

 2
4 h̄
a2+ a2− + a+ a− a+ a− + a+ a2− a+ + a− a+ a− a+ + a− a2+ a− + a2− a2+


x =
2mω
(11)
Applying the operators according to the formulas above, we get
 HARMONIC OSCILLATOR: RELATIVISTIC CORRECTION 3

 2 h
h̄ i
n (n − 1) + n2 + n (n + 1) + (n + 1)2 + n (n + 1) + (n + 1) (n + 2)

4
x =
2mω
(12)
 2
h̄
6n2 + 6n + 3


= (13)
2mω
The energy correction is then

3h̄2 ω 2 2


En1 = − 2n + 2n + 1 (14)
32mc2