Condition for expectation value of an operator to depend on time

dimanche 2 février 2014

1. The problem statement, all variables and given/known data



A particle is in a 1D harmonic oscillator potential. Under what conditions will the

expectation value of an operator Q (no explicit time dependence) depend on time if

(i) the particle is initially in a momentum eigenstate?

(ii) the particle is initially in an energy eigenstate?





2. Relevant equations



The first two parts of this question required me to show that



[itex]\frac{d}{dt}[/itex]<Q> = [itex]\frac{i}{hbar}[/itex] <[H,Q]> + <[itex]\frac{d}{dt}[/itex]Q>



Q is any hermitian operator. I did this fine and then derived the virial theorem from this, which is where the rate of change of the expectation for Q is zero. I'm assuming I'm supposed to use this equation to find the conditions, but to be perfectly honest I have no idea how to approach this at all.



I know that if the operator commutes with the Hamiltonian H then it will have no dependence on time, but how can I use this to answer the question?





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