The Geometry Underlying the Quantum Harmonic Oscillator

Abstract

We consider two-dimensional harmonic oscillator in the complex Bargmann-Fock-Segal representation with $T^*{\mathbb R}^{2}={\mathbb C}^2$ as classical phase space. We show that the eigenfunctions $\psi_n$ of the quantum Hamiltonian correspond to complex radial coordinates in the reduced phase space ${\mathbb C}^2/{\mathbb Z}_n\subset{\mathbb C}^2$. They describe ${\mathbb Z}_n$-invariant motion of particle along a circle $S^1$ in lens space $S^3/{\mathbb Z}_n\subset{\mathbb C}^2/{\mathbb Z}_n$, where ${\mathbb Z}_n$ is the cyclic group of rotation by an angle $2\pi/n$ on the circle $S^1$, $n=1,2,...\,$. Thus the general solution of the Schr\"odinger equation carries information about an infinite number of admissible classical states $\psi_n$ that can be mapped to other states after lifting into the quantum bundle. We show that in the Kepler/hydrogen atom problem there is a similar correspondence between classical and quantum states.