Gaussian wave packet states of a generalized inverted harmonic oscillator with time-dependent mass and frequency

Abstract

We derive quantum solutions of a generalized inverted or repulsive harmonic oscillator with arbitrary time-dependent mass and frequency using the quantum invariant method and linear invariants, and write its wave functions in terms of solutions of a second-order ordinary differential equation that describes the amplitude of the damped classical inverted oscillator. Afterwards, we construct Gaussian wave packet solutions and calculate the fluctuations in coordinate and momentum, the associated uncertainty relation, and the quantum correlations between coordinate and momentum. As a particular case, we apply our general development to the generalized inverted Caldirola–Kanai oscillator.