Quantum Dynamics and Non-Inertial Frames of References. II: Harmonic Oscillators

Abstract

Physical consequences of the theorem of equivalence among harmonic oscillators of different frequencies, including a free particle as a special case, are explored. A new pictorial way of understanding time-dependent coherent states and squeezed states are presented and contrasted with the standard view. Three-dimensional spherical analogues of squeezed coherent states are constructed. It is also shown as a corollary of the theorem that a free wave packet which coincides initially with any one of the eigenfunctions of a harmonic oscillator maintains its shape, that is, the probability density of position does not change apart from a time-dependent scaling of spatial coordinates. Most of the results are derived without use of any sophisticated techniques but with the knowledge of free wave packets alone.