Abstract

A slow increase of the amplitude and frequency of a mechanical harmonic oscillator leads to squeezing effects, which are related to the use of the adiabatic approximation. An order of magnitude for this squeezing is calculated and it is suggested to use the present theory for mechanical oscillators in traps and for resonant detectors. The other extreme case of 'impact' interaction is analyzed in which the time of interaction is small relative to the time period of the harmonic oscillator. In the latter case the time development is without any squeezing but broadening effects for the mechanical wave packets might be important.

© 2009 Optical Society of America