A completely algebraic solution of the simple harmonic oscillator

Abstract

We present a full algebraic derivation of the wavefunctions of the simple harmonic oscillator in coordinate and momentum space. This derivation illustrates the abstract approach to the simple harmonic oscillator by completing the derivation of the representation-dependent wavefunctions from the representation-independent energy eigenfunctions. It is simple to incorporate into the undergraduate and graduate curricula. This new derivation begins with the standard approach that was first presented by Dirac in 1947 (and is modified slightly here in the spirit of the Schroedinger factorization method), and then supplements it by employing the translation (or boost) operator to determine the wavefunctions algebraically, without any derivatives. In addition, we provide a summary of the history of this approach, which seems to have been neglected by most historians of quantum mechanics, until now.