Past exam of the advanced quantum physics course of the University of Cambridge / 2021 / Section B / 5 / b

For the requested oscillator response, treat $y$ as the fixed transverse position of a one-dimensional quantum harmonic oscillator along $z$, and put $\theta =ky$. The supplied radiation is transverse and already satisfies the Coulomb gauge. Its perturbation isThe annihilation operator and creation operator giveThus the only first-order transition out of the ground state is to $|1⟩$. More generally, the oscillator electric-dipole selection rule is $\Delta n=\pm 1$. This is a rule for matrix elements; exact energy conservation is replaced by a finite-time resonance profile during a switched finite-duration interaction.

To display both the resonant and nonresonant terms without spurious singularities, defineThe interaction picture coefficient in the given expansion is thenThe full Schrödinger picture coefficient of $|1⟩$ is $e^{-3i{\omega }_{0}t/2}{b}_1(t)$, while that of $|0⟩$ is $e^{-i{\omega }_{0}t/2}$ at this order. The normalization changes only at order $A_0^2$. In particular, at $\omega ={\omega }_0$ the first term is $C{e}^{i\theta }t$, finite for every finite time, and the perturbative result requires $|b_1|\ll 1$.

The fixed-$y$ interpretation is needed for the displayed target formulae. If $p^2$ were instead a three-dimensional kinetic operator with no transverse confinement, that model would have no normalizable transverse ground state, and $e^{\pm iky}$ would transfer transverse momentum $\pm \hslash k$. A treatment of that different model needs specified transverse states and recoil energies; they are absent from the question. The following parts use the intended localized-oscillator response.