TIME EVOLUTION OF QUADRATIC QUANTUM SYSTEMS: EVOLUTION OPERATORS, PROPAGATORS, AND INVARIANTS

We use the evolution operator method to describe time-dependent quadratic quantum systems in the framework of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. For simplicity, we consider a free particle with a variable mass M(t), a particle with a variable mass M(t) in an alternating homogeneous field, and a harmonic oscillator with a variable mass M(t) and frequency (t) subject to a variable force F(t). To construct the evolution operators for these systems in an explicit disentangled form, we use a simple technique to find the general solution of a certain class of differential and finite-difference nonstationary Schrodinger-type equations of motion and also the operator identities of the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff type. With known evolution operators, we can easily find the most general form of the propagators, invariants of any order, and wave functions and establish a unitary relation between systems. Results known in the literature follow from the obtained general results as particular cases.