What Is the Coherent State for This EM Field?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around finding a coherent state of the electromagnetic (EM) field that satisfies a specific expectation value for the electric field components. Participants express confusion over the requirement to prove the existence of such a coherent state, questioning whether it is trivial since the expectation value is a function of the position vector. It is clarified that the task involves assuming a function for the electric field and identifying a coherent state that produces this expectation value. The conversation highlights that any coherent state can yield an expectation value due to its nature as an eigenstate of the annihilation operator. Ultimately, the focus is on understanding how to construct a coherent state that aligns with the given classical field function.
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Homework Statement



Consider a state of the EM field which satisfies
\left\langle \textbf{E}_x(\vec{r})\right\rangle =f(\vec{r})

Find a coherent state which satises these expectation values.

Homework Equations



\textbf{E}(\textbf{r})=\frac{i}{\sqrt{2 V}}\sum _{\textbf{k},\lambda } \sqrt{\omega _k}\left(e^{-i \textbf{k}\textbf{ r}} a^{\dagger }{}_{\textbf{k},\lambda } \hat{\epsilon }^*{}_{\textbf{k},\lambda }+e^{-i \textbf{k}\textbf{r}} a_{\textbf{k},\lambda } \hat{\epsilon }_{\textbf{k},\lambda }\right)

Coherent State :

a|\alpha \rangle =\alpha |\alpha \rangle

The Attempt at a Solution



I tried to calculate this , but i just don't understand what am I suppose to prove here?
isn't it trivial that the expectation value will be a function of r (vector) ?

I've got this :
<br /> \left\langle \textbf{E}_x(r)\right\rangle =\sum _{k,\lambda } \sqrt{\frac{2 \omega _k}{V}} \textbf{Im}\left(\alpha e^{-i k r} \epsilon _{x_{k,\lambda }}\right)Thank you !
 
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The point is to find a coherent state such that the expectation value of the electric-field components (operators) take the given (classical) field f.
 
I still don't understand where is it given ?
it's just a "new name" for <Ex> , isn't it?

of course the expectation value won't be an operator... so I don't see what's so special here or what should I do ...

or f(r) is a known function in Electrodynamics that i should know ?

Thank u ...
 
No, it's not a known function. You just assume a function \vec{f}(t,\vec{x}) and look for a coherent state |\psi of the electromagnetic field such that
\langle \psi | \hat{\vec{E}}|\psi \rangle=\vec{f}(t,\vec{x}).
 
but according to the defination of the electric field , any coherent state will lead to such an expectation value because it's an eigen-state of the annihilation operator.
 
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As u can see , my result is depended on r (vector) for an arbitrary coherent state |alpha>...
 
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