Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-theoretical-physics-ii-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2018/4/c/solution
Past exam of the theoretical physics II course of the University of Cambridge 2018 4 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
Define the signed dimensionless displacementThe spatial translation operator is , and the phases of the new energy eigenstates are fixed by . Their expansion coefficients are thereforeSince ,Set and . Their commutator is , which commutes with both operators. Thus the stated special case of the Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula is applicable and givesBecause ,Taking the overlaps with therefore provesThis is the coherent state after shifting an oscillator equilibrium. Its normalization follows from .
There is a sign qualification in the printed expansion: agrees with when , equivalently . For a general signed displacement , the odd coefficients have the opposite sign in the specified translated basis. The squared displacement alone fixes the occupation probabilities, not these coherent relative phases. The two-exponential identity also requires the central-commutator condition used above; it is not valid in that simple form for arbitrary operators.
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