Relative-coordinate moments in even and odd oscillator ground states

ID: relative-coordinate-moments-in-even-and-odd-oscillator-ground-states

The lowest even quantum harmonic oscillator quantum state has density , and the lowest odd quantum state has density . Since , integration by parts gives whenever the boundary terms vanish. For , this proves the displayed identity. Odd moments vanish in both quantum states by parity; even moments quantify the larger spatial spread in the odd quantum state. In particular the relative-coordinate variance is three times as large, and the odd density vanishes at particle coincidence.

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