- #1
GuitarDean
- 7
- 0
Homework Statement
Given a particle is confined in a one dimensional harmonic oscillator potential, find the matrix representation of the momentum operator in the basis of the eigenvectors of the Hamiltonian.
Homework Equations
Potential: V(x) = 0.5 m w^2 x^2 where m is the mass of the particle and w is the angular frequency
Schrodinger equation: H |psi> = E |psi> where H is the Hamiltonian operator, E are its eigenvalues (or the energies of the system), and |psi> are its eigenvectors (or the stationary states of the system).
E = h w (n + 0.5) where h is the reduced Planck constant, w is the same as in V(x), and n = 1, 2, 3, 4, ...
|psi> = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_harmonic_oscillator#Hamiltonian_and_energy_eigenstates (look under topic 1.1: Hamiltonian and energy eigenstates)
The Attempt at a Solution
This was a question on my midterm exam, and I had absolutely no clue how to tackle it. I still don't. It won't be necessary to do the algebra, but can someone just sketch out the method of obtaining the solution for me?