next up previous
Next: c) Up: (10 pts) Simple Previous: a)

b)

Give the lowest possible energy for the three dimensional SHO. Show that there is only one quantum state corresponding to this energy (only one choice of ). Using the form of the wavefunctions for the one dimensional harmonic oscillator show that the wavefunction of the ground state of the three dimensional oscillator is itself spherically symmetric. When there is only one state for a given energy level we say that that level is non-degenerate, and we write g=1. The high symmetry of the ground state is closely related to its lack of degeneracy.



Prof. Tomas Alberto Arias
Thu Oct 12 17:23:22 EDT 1995