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Homework Statement
A particle is in the ground state of a simple harmonic oscillator, potential → V(x)=\frac{1}{2}mω^{2}x^{2}
Imagine that you are in the ground state |0⟩ of the 1DSHO, and you operate on it with the momentum operator p, in terms of the a and a† operators. What is the eigenstate? Then, how would you represent this operation in terms of a probability density in momentum space?
Homework Equations
p=i\sqrt{\frac{\hbar m ω}{2}}(a†-a)
Fourier Transform, x→p-space
The Attempt at a Solution
p|0⟩=i\sqrt{\frac{\hbar m ω}{2}}|1⟩
So now the particle is in the first excited state of the SHO
But I don't understand the next part of the problem. How can I represent this terms of probability density in p-space?
I can perform the Fourier Transform and find that,
\Phi(p,t)=\sqrt{2}(\frac{\pi \hbar}{m ω})^{\frac{1}{4}} e^{\frac{-p^{2}}{2 \hbar m ω} - \frac{i t ω}{2}}
And the probability density is,
|\Phi(p,t)|^{2}=2\sqrt{\frac{\pi \hbar}{m ω}} e^{\frac{-p^{2}}{\hbar m ω}}
I don't believe I understand what this part of the question is asking. Any suggestions/ideas would be greatly appreciated.