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The equally spaced energy levels of the quantum harmonic oscillator revisited: a back-to-front reconstruction of an n-body Hamiltonian

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posted on 2017-10-02, 12:36 authored by Terry Robinson
The "back-to-front" derivation of the properties of the quantum harmonic oscillator, starting with its equally spaced energy levels is re-examined. A new derivation that exploits the natural rotational symmetry of the quantum harmonic oscillator is proposed. The new approach allows the "back-to-front" idea to be extended further by showing that it is possible to derive the Hamiltonian of a system of particles from the starting point that the population is represented by a natural number. This involves the symmetry properties of phasors and Schwinger's theory of angular momentum. The analysis is also extended to multi-mode bosonic systems and fermionic systems. It is suggested that these results offer an alternative way to formulate physics, based on discreteness.

History

Citation

European Journal of Physics, 2017, in press

Author affiliation

/Organisation/COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING/Department of Physics and Astronomy

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Published in

European Journal of Physics

Publisher

European Physical Society

issn

0143-0807

eissn

1361-6404

Acceptance date

2017-08-31

Copyright date

2017

Available date

2018-08-31

Publisher version

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6404/aa8966

Notes

The file associated with this record is under embargo until 12 months after publication, in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. The full text may be available through the publisher links provided above.

Language

en

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