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Do equidistant energy levels necessitate a harmonic potential?
Ist Teil von
Optical and quantum electronics, 2021-07, Vol.53 (7), Article 403
Ort / Verlag
New York: Springer US
Erscheinungsjahr
2021
Quelle
Springer Journals
Beschreibungen/Notizen
Experimental results from literature show equidistant energy levels in thin Bi films on surfaces, suggesting a harmonic oscillator description. Yet this conclusion is by no means imperative, especially considering that any measurement only yields energy levels in a finite range and with a nonzero uncertainty. Within this study we review isospectral potentials from the literature and investigate the applicability of the harmonic oscillator hypothesis to recent measurements. First, we describe experimental results from literature by a harmonic oscillator model, obtaining a realistic size and depth of the resulting quantum well. Second, we use the shift-operator approach to calculate anharmonic non-polynomial potentials producing (partly) equidistant spectra. We discuss different potential types and interpret the possible modeling applications. Finally, by applying
n
th order perturbation theory we show that
exactly
equidistant eigenenergies cannot be achieved by polynomial potentials, except by the harmonic oscillator potential. In summary, we aim to give an overview over which conclusions may be drawn from the experimental determination of energy levels and which may not.