SHM

[Zingerburger7]

I was wondering, does SHM apply to anything that emits waves? and if so, does that mean light in its wave form have SHM? or is there something else to it?

[ajb]

Simple Harmonic Motion is just about the most important thing in quantum physics. The first thing is that the quantum harmonic oscillator is completely solvable and can be tackled using "ladder operators". The idea of ladder operators is very important in exactly solvable Schrodinger equations and is related to supersymmetric quantum mechanics. The second thing is that quantum field theory essentially looks like an infinite number of simple harmonic oscillators. Here the ladder operators are known as creation and annihilation operators as they create or annihilate states/particles.

 

So everybody pay close attention in physics 101 when you experiment with pendulums...

 

Not all waves are necessarily harmonic in nature, but light and sound can be.

Edited August 3, 2011 by ajb

[Zingerburger7]

thanks, i never new Simple Harmonic Motion was so important