Oscillator ladder-operator sign convention

ID: oscillator-ladder-operator-sign-convention

For real coefficients in , imposing , and gives
Indeed the adjoint operator condition makes the two coefficients equal and the two coefficients opposite. The canonical commutation relation gives , and matching the coefficients of and fixes their magnitudes. Both signs change together. The conventional creation and annihilation operators choose ; the other sign is an equivalent phase convention for the number states.

New to topics? Read the docs here!