On the truncation of the harmonic oscillator wavepacket

Abstract

We present an interesting result regarding the implication of truncating the wavepacket of the harmonic oscillator. We show that disregarding the non-significant tails of a function which is the superposition of eigenfunctions of the harmonic oscillator has a remarkable consequence: namely, there exist infinitely many different superpositions giving rise to the same function on the interval. Uniqueness, in the case of a wavepacket, is restored by a postulate of quantum mechanics.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/0305-4470/38/17/L03
Divisions: College of Engineering & Physical Sciences > Systems analytics research institute (SARI)
Additional Information: ©2005 IOP Publishing Ltd. After the Embargo Period, the full text of the Accepted Manuscript may be made available on the non-commercial repository for anyone with an internet connection to read and download. After the Embargo Period a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 licence applies to the Accepted Manuscript, in which case it may then only be posted under that CC BY-NC-ND licence provided that all the terms of the licence are adhered to, and any copyright notice and any cover sheet applied by IOP is not deleted or modified.
Uncontrolled Keywords: Mathematical Physics,Physics and Astronomy(all),Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
Publication ISSN: 0305-4470
Last Modified: 05 Jan 2024 08:06
Date Deposited: 06 Mar 2019 11:16
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
https://iopscie ... /38/17/L03/meta (Publisher URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2005-04-29
Authors: Rebollo-Neira, L. (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-7420-8977)
Jain, S.

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