Does the Harmonic Oscillator Wave Function Change in Momentum Space?

In summary, the author is trying to solve a problem in momentum space where he converted from position to momentum space. He found that if he solved the energy eigenvalue problem, the results would be the same as if he solved the problem in x-space.
  • #1
frogjg2003
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Homework Statement



I'm trying to prove that the Harmonic oscillator wave function doesn't change (except a phase factor) when I convert from position to momentum space.
[itex]\Phi_{nlm}(\vec p)=(-i)^{2n+l}\Psi_{nlm}(\vec p)[/itex]

Homework Equations



[itex]\Phi_{nlm}(\vec p)=\frac{1}{(2\pi)^{3/2}}\int d^3r e^{-i \vec p\cdot\vec r}\Psi_{lmn}(\vec r)[/itex]
[itex]\Psi_{nlm}(\vec r)=N_{nl} \alpha^{3/2} e^{-(\alpha r)^2/2} L^{l+\frac{1}{2}}_n((\alpha r)^2) R_{lm}(\alpha\vec r)[/itex]
in natural units and α is in GeV. [itex]L_n^{l+\frac{1}{2}}(x^2)[/itex] is the associated Laguerre polynomials, [itex]R_{lm}(\vec r)=\sqrt{\frac{4\pi}{2l+1}} r^lY_{lm}(\hat r)[/itex] and Nnl is a normalization constant. I'm leaving α out of Nnl because I want to keep track of it for later calculations.
[itex]R_{lm}(\vec x+\vec a)=\sum_{\lambda=0}^l \sum_{\mu=-\lambda}^\lambda \sqrt{\binom{l+m}{\lambda+\mu}\binom{l-m}{\lambda-\mu}} R_{lm}(\vec x) R_{(l-\lambda) (m-\mu)}(\vec a)[/itex]
[itex]R_{lm}(a\vec x)=a^lR_{lm}(\vec x)[/itex]
All integrals are over all space, i.e.
[itex]\int d^3 r=\int_0^\infty dr \int_0^\pi r d\theta \int_0^{2\pi} r\sin{\theta} d\phi[/itex]

The Attempt at a Solution



The end result should be [itex]\Phi_{lmn}(\vec p)=(-i)^{2n+l} N_{nl} \alpha^{-3/2} e^{-(p/\alpha)^2/2} L^{l+\frac{1}{2}}_n((\frac{p}{\alpha})^2) R_{lm}(\frac{\vec p}{\alpha})[/itex]

I've managed to manipulate it into
[itex]\Phi_{nlm}=\frac{N_{nl}}{(2\pi\alpha)^{3/2}} e^{-q^2/2}\int d^3 x e^{-(\vec x+i \vec q)^2/2} L^{l+\frac{1}{2}}_n(x^2) R_{lm}(\vec x)[/itex]
where [itex]x=\alpha r[/itex] and [itex]q=\frac{p}{\alpha}[/itex]. I want to further transform it to [itex]\vec y=\vec x-i\vec q[/itex] and integrate over y.
I can't figure out if the differential volume element changes, i.e. if I can just write it as
[itex]\Phi_{nlm}=\frac{N_{nl}}{(2\pi\alpha)^{3/2}} e^{-q^2/2}\int d^3 y e^{-y^2/2} L^{l+\frac{1}{2}}_n((\vec y-i\vec q)^2) R_{lm}(\vec y-i\vec q)[/itex]

Assuming I could, I continued and managed to get it into the relatively simple form of
[itex]\Phi_{nlm}=\frac{N_{nl}}{(2\pi\alpha)^{3/2}} e^{-q^2/2}\sum_{\lambda=0}^l\sum_{\mu=-\lambda}^\lambda \sqrt{\frac{4\pi}{2\lambda+1}\binom{l+m}{\lambda+\mu}\binom{l-m}{\lambda-\mu}} (-i)^l R_{(l-\lambda)(m-\mu)}\int d^3y e^{-y^2/2} L^{l+\frac{1}{2}}_n((\vec y-i\vec q)^2) y^\lambda Y_{\lambda\mu}(\hat y)[/itex]

For n=0, [itex]L_n^{l+\frac{1}{2}}(x)=1[/itex], so it was trivial to show it was correct. For n=1, I can't get the cross term in [itex]y^2-2i\vec y\cdot \vec q-q^2[/itex] to disappear and it leaves [itex]\delta_{\lambda1}[/itex] terms I can't seem to get rid of.
 
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  • #2
I think that it's not necessary to play about with all the special functions to see this.

If you write out the time-independent Schrodinger equation in p-space, you'll find that it looks exactly the same as it does in x-space, with some annoying factors of [itex]m[/itex], [itex]\omega[/itex] and [itex]\hbar[/itex] shuffled around. So when you solve the energy eigenvalue problem in p-space, you're basically doing exactly the same math as you would be in x-space, and the answers will be of the same form.

It all comes about because of the x-p symmetry of the harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian. That Hamiltonian, roughly speaking, can't tell the difference between x and p.
 
  • #3
True, but that's the undergrad method. I want to be able to transform wavefunctions that aren't the same in both spaces, and this would is a very good test case.
 

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