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If F is the only force acting on the system, the system is called a simple harmonic oscillator, and it undergoes simple harmonic motion: sinusoidal oscillations about the equilibrium point, with a constant amplitude and a constant frequency (which does not depend on the amplitude).
Simple harmonic motion can serve as a mathematical model for a variety of motions, but is typified by the oscillation of a mass on a spring when it is subject to the linear elastic restoring force given by Hooke's law. The motion is sinusoidal in time and demonstrates a single resonant frequency.
The quantum harmonic oscillator is the quantum-mechanical analog of the classical harmonic oscillator. Because an arbitrary smooth potential can usually be approximated as a harmonic potential at the vicinity of a stable equilibrium point , it is one of the most important model systems in quantum mechanics.
The systems where the restoring force on a body is directly proportional to its displacement, such as the dynamics of the spring-mass system, are described mathematically by the simple harmonic oscillator and the regular periodic motion is known as simple harmonic motion.
Increase of amplitude as damping decreases and frequency approaches resonant frequency of a driven damped simple harmonic oscillator. [1] [2]Resonance is a phenomenon that occurs when an object or system is subjected to an external force or vibration that matches its natural frequency.
Natural frequency, measured in terms of eigenfrequency, is the rate at which an oscillatory system tends to oscillate in the absence of disturbance. A foundational example pertains to simple harmonic oscillators , such as an idealized spring with no energy loss wherein the system exhibits constant-amplitude oscillations with a constant frequency.
Starting with the example used in the derivation above, the simple harmonic oscillator has the potential energy function = =, where k is the spring constant of the oscillator and ω = 2π/T is the natural angular frequency of the oscillator.
In physics, acoustics, and telecommunications, a harmonic is a sinusoidal wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the fundamental frequency of a periodic signal. The fundamental frequency is also called the 1st harmonic ; the other harmonics are known as higher harmonics .