Universal Superpositions of Coherent States and Self-Similar Potentials

Abstract

A variety of coherent states of the harmonic oscillator is considered. It is formed by a particular superposition of canonical coherent states. In the simplest case, these superpositions are eigenfunctions of the annihilation operator $A=P(d/dx+x)/\sqrt2$, where $P$ is the parity operator. Such $A$ arises naturally in the $q\to -1$ limit for a symmetry operator of a specific self-similar potential obeying the $q$-Weyl algebra, $AA^\dagger-q^2A^\dagger A=1$. Coherent states for this and other reflectionless potentials whose discrete spectra consist of $N$ geometric series are analyzed. In the harmonic oscillator limit the surviving part of these states takes the form of orthonormal superpositions of $N$ canonical coherent states $|\epsilon^k\alpha\rangle$, $k=0, 1, \dots, N-1$, where $\epsilon$ is a primitive $N$th root of unity, $\epsilon^N=1$. A class of $q$-coherent states related to the bilateral $q$-hypergeometric series and Ramanujan type integrals is described. It includes a curious set of coherent states of the free nonrelativistic particle which is interpreted as a $q$-algebraic system without discrete spectrum. A special degenerate form of the symmetry algebras of self-similar potentials is found to provide a natural $q$-analog of the Floquet theory. Some properties of the factorization method, which is used throughout the paper, are discussed from the differential Galois theory point of view.