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Questions tagged [harmonic-oscillator]

The term "harmonic oscillator" is used to describe any system with a "linear" restoring force that tends to return the system to an equilibrium state. There is both a classical harmonic oscillator and a quantum harmonic oscillator. Both are used to as toy problems that describe many physical systems.

1 vote
1 answer
33 views

How Does Frequency Change With Damping (Underdamped Harmonic Oscillators) [closed]

I'm studying harmonic oscillators and I'm trying to model a system where both the frequency and amplitude decay over time. This is throwing me off because frequency decay is much less intuitive than ...
Jeremy Kievit's user avatar
5 votes
5 answers
808 views

How can I interpret the normal modes of this mechanical system?

How can I interpret the normal modes of this mechanical system? The equations of motion for the system are as follows: $$\left[\begin{array}{ccc} m_{1}\\ & m_{2}\\ & & 0 \end{array}\...
fortega20's user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
38 views

The period of simple harmonic motion [closed]

Am i understanding this correctly? The harmonic oscillation of an object can be seen as the movement in the y direction along a circular path. So the time for one revolution around the circle will be ...
Ryan Johansson's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
46 views

What happens to the amplitude when a spring is compressed?

Say there's a spring lying on a horizontal table, with one end attached to a wall (say the left end) and it is in it's natural length. Now I compress the spring from the right end, and leave it. So ...
android's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
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Why Is There No Oscillator Representation for Operators in Planar ${\cal N}=4$ SYM Theory?

I'm studying the planar ${\cal N}=4$ Super Yang-Mills (SYM) theory and I'm curious about the representations of its operators, specifically the Hamiltonian and the dilatation operator. In many quantum ...
iron's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
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Action-angle variables for three-dimensional harmonic oscillator using cylindrical coordinates

I am solving problem 19 of ch 10 of Goldstein mechanics. The problem is: A three-dimensional harmonic oscillator has the force constant k1 in the x- and y- directions and k3 in the z-direction. Using ...
SYD's user avatar
  • 13
-1 votes
2 answers
76 views

When is minimum potential energy in simple harmonic motion not zero?

We know that in simple harmonic motion, potential energy is minimum at the mean position and it is zero since displacement is zero. So what are some cases in which minimum potential energy is not zero?...
android's user avatar
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0 votes
0 answers
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Article on 1D deformed quantum harmonic oscillator

Few years ago I was reading an article which I'm trying to find for quite some time but with no success so far. It was a paper about deformation of 1D quantum harmonic oscillator with continuous ...
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1 answer
71 views

How is the quantum harmonic oscillator related to Fock states?

The question is basically in the title. From what I understand, in the Fock state there is a certain number of particles in each energy level. The creation/annihilation operators create or destroy a ...
Andris Erglis's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
57 views

If friction is not proportional to velocity, why do we model it as such when considering damped oscillations? [duplicate]

Early in our study of mechanics, we learn that friction is usually proportional only to normal force, without dependence on velocity. However, during our studies of damped oscillations, we often model ...
Dominic Stewart-Guido's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
44 views

Why am I getting this derivation of time period of pendulum in an accelerated frame wrong? [closed]

We are working in the frame of the cart and we are trying to obtain the $\tau=k\theta$ form. So, let's write the $\tau=I_{axis}\alpha$ first for a small deviation $\theta$ from the vartical. (The ...
Swan's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Potentials increasing faster than harmonic oscillator

I'm reading a book which says: (HO stands for harmonic oscillator): The spectrum of the HO has equidistant energy eigenvalues. A potential that increases quicker than the HO has states which become ...
MTYS's user avatar
  • 369
0 votes
1 answer
45 views

Spherical quantum oscillator: Is energy smaller than the potential?

A particle with mass $m$ is inside the spherical quantum well $V(r)$: \begin{equation} V(r)= \begin{cases} -V_0, & \text{if}\ r<a \\ 0, & \text{otherwise} \end{cases} \...
haifisch123's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
34 views

Understanding the dynamics of a perturbed quantum harmonic oscillator system

I'm trying to understand how quantum systems behave when they are perturbed, and I'm using the quantum harmonic oscillator as a model. I start by implementing a symmetric gaussian shaped bump in the ...
rail's user avatar
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0 votes
3 answers
60 views

Investigation Results of Damping of A Spring Showing Changing Phase Angle? Why?

In an experiment I've recorded the displacement of the spring over time, investigating underdamped simple harmonic motion. Using pre-existing formulae the data should conform to a curve of the form $$...
Eshwar Kolli's user avatar

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