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The Halmiltonian for 1D simple harmonic oscillator is

$$ H = \frac{1}{2m}(P^2 + m^2 \omega^2 X^2). $$

Show that in the Heisenberg picture, the sum of expectation

$$ \langle X_{t+\pi/2\omega}^2 \rangle + \langle X_t^2 \rangle $$

is constant.

Sorry I am an amateur and I have not taken any formal courses in quamtum mechanics. I am completely stuck.

Bernoulli
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    Use the equation of motion for the Heisenberg picture operators to find $\frac{d}{dt} X = \frac{i}{\hbar} [H,X] = \frac{i}{\hbar} \frac{1}{2m}[P^2,X] = \frac{i}{\hbar} \frac{1}{2m} (-2 i \hbar P) = \frac{P}{m}$ and similarly $\frac{d}{dt} P = \frac{i}{\hbar} [H,P] = \frac{i}{\hbar} \frac{\omega^2 m}{2}[X^2,P] = \frac{i}{\hbar} \frac{\omega^2 m}{2} (2 i \hbar X) = - \omega^2 m X$. Hence $\frac{d^2}{dt^2} X = \frac{1}{m} \frac{d}{dt}P = - \omega^2 X$. Therefore, the general solution for $X$ is of the form $X = A \cos(\omega t) + B \sin(\omega t) $. – secavara Mar 04 '19 at 19:57
  • @secavara That should be an Answer. (If you look in the browser "page source" you can copy your Mathjax.) – Keith McClary Mar 04 '19 at 21:07
  • Thank you very much – Bernoulli Mar 04 '19 at 22:46

1 Answers1

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Use the equation of motion for the Heisenberg picture operators to find

\begin{equation} \frac{d}{dt} X = \frac{i}{\hbar} [H,X] = \frac{i}{\hbar} \frac{1}{2m}[P^2,X] = \frac{i}{\hbar} \frac{1}{2m} (-2 i \hbar P) = \frac{P}{m} \, , \end{equation}

and similarly

\begin{equation} \frac{d}{dt} P = \frac{i}{\hbar} [H,P] = \frac{i}{\hbar} \frac{\omega^2 m}{2}[X^2,P] = \frac{i}{\hbar} \frac{\omega^2 m}{2} (2 i \hbar X) = - \omega^2 m X \,. \end{equation}

Hence

\begin{equation} \frac{d^2}{dt^2} X = \frac{1}{m} \frac{d}{dt}P = - \omega^2 X \, . \end{equation}

Therefore, the general solution for $X$ is of the form

\begin{equation} X = A \cos(\omega t) + B \sin(\omega t) \, . \end{equation}

We can plug this solution in the equation for $P$ and find

\begin{equation} P = - m \omega A \sin(\omega t) + m \omega B \cos(\omega t) \, . \end{equation}

Notice that $A$ and $B$ are not completely arbitrary: since we must satisfy $[X,P] = i \hbar$, we must have $[A,B] = \frac{i \hbar}{m \omega}$. Hence, they certainly do not commute. Take this into account when computing $\langle X^2 \rangle$.

secavara
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