Coherent States

Quantum Mechanics A

Schrödinger Equation The most fundamental equation of quantum mechanics; given a Hamiltonian ${\mathcal {H}}$, it describes how a state $|\Psi \rangle$ evolves in time.

Physical Basis of Quantum Mechanics

Basic Concepts and Theory of Motion UV Catastrophe (Black-Body Radiation) Photoelectric Effect Stability of Matter Double Slit Experiment Stern-Gerlach Experiment The Principle of Complementarity The Correspondence Principle The Philosophy of Quantum Theory

Schrödinger Equation

Brief Derivation of Schrödinger Equation Relation Between the Wave Function and Probability Density Stationary States Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle Some Consequences of the Uncertainty Principle

Operators, Eigenfunctions, and Symmetry

Linear Vector Spaces and Operators Commutation Relations and Simultaneous Eigenvalues The Schrödinger Equation in Dirac Notation Transformations of Operators and Symmetry Time Evolution of Expectation Values and Ehrenfest's Theorem

Motion in One Dimension

One-Dimensional Bound States Oscillation Theorem The Dirac Delta Function Potential Scattering States, Transmission and Reflection Motion in a Periodic Potential Summary of One-Dimensional Systems

Discrete Eigenvalues and Bound States

Harmonic Oscillator Spectrum and Eigenstates Analytical Method for Solving the Simple Harmonic Oscillator Coherent States Charged Particles in an Electromagnetic Field WKB Approximation

Time Evolution and the Pictures of Quantum Mechanics

The Heisenberg Picture: Equations of Motion for Operators The Interaction Picture The Virial Theorem

Angular Momentum

Commutation Relations Angular Momentum as a Generator of Rotations in 3D Spherical Coordinates Eigenvalue Quantization Orbital Angular Momentum Eigenfunctions

Central Forces

General Formalism Free Particle in Spherical Coordinates Spherical Well Isotropic Harmonic Oscillator Hydrogen Atom WKB in Spherical Coordinates

The Path Integral Formulation of Quantum Mechanics

Feynman Path Integrals The Free-Particle Propagator Propagator for the Harmonic Oscillator

Continuous Eigenvalues and Collision Theory

Differential Cross Section and the Green's Function Formulation of Scattering Central Potential Scattering and Phase Shifts Coulomb Potential Scattering

The general states of a harmonic oscillator can be expressed as a superpostion of the energy eigenstates $|n\rangle .\!$ A class of states that is of particular importance are the eigenstates of the (non-Hermitian) lowering operator ${\hat {a}},\!$

$a|\alpha \rangle =\alpha |\alpha \rangle ,\!$

where $\alpha \!$ can be any complex number.

These states are known as coherent states. The term, "coherent", reflects their important role in optics and quantum electronics.

Note that it is not possible to construct an eigenstate of the raising operator ${\hat {a}}^{\dagger }$ because $a^{\dagger }|n\rangle ={\sqrt {n+1}}|n+1\rangle ;$ this fact means that application of ${\hat {a}}^{\dagger }$ to any superposition of harmonic oscillator eigenstates eliminates the lowest-energy state that was present in the superposition.

The following are some properties of coherent states.

Construction of Coherent States

The coherent state with eigenvalue $\alpha \!$ is given by

$|\alpha \rangle =\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }{\frac {\alpha ^{n}}{\sqrt {n!}}}|n\rangle =e^{\alpha {\hat {a}}^{\dagger }}|0\rangle .$

We may see that this is a coherent state with the given eigenvalue as follows:

${\hat {a}}|\alpha \rangle =\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }{\frac {\alpha ^{n}}{\sqrt {n!}}}{\hat {a}}|n\rangle =\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {\alpha ^{n}}{\sqrt {n!}}}{\sqrt {n}}|n-1\rangle =\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {\alpha ^{n}}{\sqrt {(n-1)!}}}|n-1\rangle =\alpha \left(\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }{\frac {\alpha ^{n}}{\sqrt {n!}}}|n\rangle \right)=\alpha |\alpha \rangle$

II. Coherent states normalization.

Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle |\alpha\rangle=Ne^{\alpha a^{\dagger}} |0\rangle } where Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle N} is normalization constant.

Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 1=\langle\alpha|\alpha\rangle=\langle 0|Ne^{\alpha^*a} Ne^{\alpha a^{\dagger}} |0\rangle = N^2\langle 0|e^{\alpha^*a} e^{\alpha a^{\dagger}} |0\rangle }

For any operators A and B which both commute with their commutator, we have:

Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle e^A e^B = e^{A+B} e^{\frac{1}{2}[A,B]} }

and similarly, Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle e^B e^A = e^{B+A} e^{\frac{1}{2}[B,A]} = e^{A+B} e^{-\frac{1}{2}[A,B]}}

therefore: Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle e^A e^B = e^B e^A e^{[A,B]}\!}

Apply this result for Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle A=\alpha ^* a\!} and Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle B=\alpha a^{\dagger}\!} ( A and B both commute with their commutator because Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [A,B]=|\alpha|^2)\!} , we have:

Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 1=\langle\alpha|\alpha\rangle = N^2\langle 0|e^{\alpha^*a} e^{\alpha a^{\dagger}} |0\rangle }

Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \begin{align} N^2\langle 0|e^{\alpha a^{\dagger}} e^{\alpha^* a} e^{[\alpha^*a,\alpha a^{\dagger}]} |0\rangle &= N^2e^{|\alpha|^2}\langle 0|e^{\alpha a^{\dagger}} e^{\alpha^* a} |0\rangle \\ &= N^2e^{|\alpha|^2}\langle 0|e^{\alpha a^{\dagger}} |0\rangle \\ &= N^2e^{|\alpha|^2}\langle 0|0\rangle \\ &= N^2e^{|\alpha|^2} \end{align} }

Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \rightarrow N=e^{-\frac{1}{2}|\alpha|^2}}

Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \rightarrow \mbox{Normalized coherent states:} |\alpha \rangle = e^{-\frac{1}{2}|\alpha |^2 } e^ {\alpha a^{\dagger} }|0 \rangle }

III. Inner product of two coherent states

There is an eigenstate Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle |\alpha\rangle\!} of lowering operator Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle a\!} for any complex number Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \alpha\!} . Therefore, we have a set of coherent states. This is NOT an orthogonal set. Indeed, the inner product of two coherent states Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle |\alpha\rangle\!} and Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle |\beta\rangle\!} can be calculated as follows:

Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \begin{align} \langle \beta|\alpha \rangle &= e^{-\frac{1}{2}|\alpha|^2}e^{-\frac{1}{2}|\beta|^2}\langle 0|e^{\beta^*a} e^{\alpha a^+} |0\rangle \\ &= e^{-\frac{1}{2}|\alpha|^2}e^{-\frac{1}{2}|\beta|^2}\langle 0|e^{\alpha a^+} e^{\beta^* a} e^{[\beta^*a,\alpha a^+]} |0\rangle \\ &= e^{-\frac{1}{2}|\alpha|^2}e^{-\frac{1}{2}|\beta|^2}e^{\alpha \beta^*}\langle 0|e^{\alpha a^+} e^{\beta^* a} |0 \rangle \\ &= e^{-\frac{1}{2}|\alpha|^2}e^{-\frac{1}{2}|\beta|^2}e^{\alpha \beta^*} \end{align} }

Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \rightarrow |\langle \beta|\alpha \rangle |^2 = e^{-|\alpha-\beta|^2}}

Hence, the set of coherent states is not orthogonal and the distance Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle |\alpha-\beta|\!} in a complex plane measures the degree to which the two eigenstates are 'approximately orthogonal'.