On the Quantum Mechanics of Squeezed States

Abstract

We show that the squeezed states of quantum optics are physically and mathematically equivalent to Gaussian wave packets. In the framework of wave mechanics it is possible to formulate and investigate in a very simple way all the properties of reduced or squeezed fluctuations of the position and momentum operators. We study squeezed quantum fluctuations of a minimum-uncertainty Gaussian wave function under two different dynamical conditions of free evolution and harmonic oscillation.