Group theory, coherent states, and the N-dimensional oscillator

Abstract

The isotropic harmonic oscillator in N dimensions is shown to have an underlying symmetry group O(2,1)X O(N)which implies a unique result for the energy spectrum of the system. Raising and lowering operators analogous to those of the one-dimensional oscillator are given for each value of the angular momentum parameter. This allows the construction of an infinite number of coherent states to be carried out. In the N=1 case there is a twofold family of coherent states, a particular linear combination of which coincides with the single set already well known for that case. Wave functions are readily derived which require only the solution of a first order differential equation, an attribute generally characteristic of group theoretical approaches.