Coupled harmonic oscillators in stochastic electrodynamics

Systems of coupled harmonic oscillators are analyzed within the framework of stochastic electrodynamics, a classical approach which assumes stochastic electromagnetic background radiation. Solutions to a generalized Braffort-Marshall equation for the motion of a collection of charged particles are obtained by decoupling the equations in matrix form when all external forces are assumed linear. It is found that the results of stochastic electrodynamics agree well with those of quantum mechanics for a system of coupled harmonic oscillators without degeneracy, however if degeneracy exists, then some of the decoupled equations become purely classical.