Generalized coherent states

Abstract

In the coherent state of the harmonic oscillator, the probability density is that of the ground state subjected to an oscillation along a classical trajectory. Senitzky and others pointed out that there are states of the harmonic oscillator corresponding to an identical oscillatory displacement of the probability density of any energy eigenstate. These generalizations of the coherent state are rarely discussed, yet they furnish an interesting set of quantum states of light that combine features of number states and coherent states. Here we give an elementary account of the quantum optics of generalized coherent states.