Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023

Quantum Mechanics

Contents

1. Failures of the classical theory

a. Maxwell’s equations and electromagnetic waves
b. Blackbody radiation
c. Atomic spectra
2. Dual nature of radiation – Compton Effect
3. Matter waves
4. Double slit experiment with particles
5. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle
6. Concepts of wave functions
7. Observables, Operators and Expectation values in Quantum mechanics
8. The Schrodinger’s wave equation
9. Time dependent wave equation
10. Time independent wave equation
11. Solutions of the wave equation to interpret a moving free particle
12. Numerical examples

1 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

Review of electric and magnetic fields

Electric Fields

Electric fields are felt due to the presence of electric charges. It is obvious that electric charges
can be isolated. Fundamentally electric charges can be of the positive or the negative charge type.

The fundamental unit of electric charge is the charge of the electron which has a magnitude of
1.602x10-19C

Though an atom is neutral, an electron can be removed from the influence of the nucleus by the
providing enough energy in the form of thermal energies. The atom is then an ion with a unit
positive charge and the electron is a unit of negative charge.

Electric charges can be isolated and separated. The presence of positive or negative charges are
felt by the presence of an electric field. The quantity of the charge at any point would decide the
strength of the electric field. The presence of the charge can be quantified by the electric potential
which is the work done in bringing unit positive charge from infinity to the point at a distance x.

The electric potential at any point x from the charge

The electric potential is inversely proportional to the distance of the test charge from the point
charge. If the charge is positive, external work has to be done in moving the positive charge and if
the charge is negative the field does the work to move the positive charge.

The electric field due to a point charge

The electric field is inversely proportional to the square of the distance of the test charge from the
point charge in reference.

The electric field in terms of the electric potential

The presence of an electric field can be visualized in terms of the flux lines which
indicate the direction of the force felt by the unit positive charge along the line.

In the case of the presence of a positive charge, the lines of force are directed
radially outwards, the direction of repulsion of the test charge.

In the case of the presence of a negative charge, the lines of force are directed
radially inwards, the direction of attraction of the test charge.

The flux of electric field lines is a measure of the electric field at a point and hence a
measure of the amount of charge present at the point.

Magnetic fields

Interestingly magnetic fields are generally due to a dipole – a north and south pole which cannot
be isolated from each other.

Though theoretically a magnetic monopole can exist, no experimental results are available to
confirm the same as of date.

2 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

Just as in the case of electric fields the magnetic field at any point is inversely proportional to the
square of the distance from the magnetic dipole, and the magnetic potential is inversely
proportional to the distance of the reference point from the given dipole.

The magnetic field lines are continuous (closed loops) from the north pole and the south pole
external to the material and the field lines are continuous in
the material as well. The flux of magnetic field lines is
indicative of the strength of the magnetic field at any point.

We are also familiar with magnetic fields created by a current

carrying solenoid. The direction of the current through the
solenoid defines which end of the solenoid behaves as a
north pole or a south pole.

The common observation is that there is a strong interplay between electric fields and magnetic
fields when they are time dependent quantities.

The Ampere’s law - the current through a straight conductor creates a magnetic field around the
wire and the Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction – of an induced current in a closed coil
placed in a time varying magnetic fields are strong evidences for the two forces, electric and
magnetic

1. Maxwell’s equations in a medium

Maxwell summarized the existing ideas of electric and magnetic fields and their inter-related
phenomena into four equations (in 1860) which are known as the Maxwell’s equation. This also
paved the way for describing radiation as an electromagnetic wave.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

[A review of the operations with the operator (nabla operator)

The operator is a partial differential mathematical operator given by where

are the unit vectors in the three orthogonal directions.

The operator when operates on a scalar quantity gives rise to a vector.

The simple multiplication of with a scalar field A written as is the gradient of the field and
gives the direction of the highest rate of change of the field

For example, the operator operating on an electric potential gives the electric field at the point

The dot product of the operator with another vector field results in a scalar quantity which is
referred to as the divergence of the defined field or the rate of change of the field in the three
orthogonal directions.

The cross product of operator with a vector field gives the curl of the field and results in a vector
which is perpendicular to both and the given vector.

3 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

Another important identity with the operator is the curl of the curl of a vector is equal to the
gradient of the divergence of the field minus the Laplacian operating on the vector ie.,

where is the scalar Laplacian operator.]

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Gauss’s law for electric fields

Divergence of the electric field is due to a system of charges enclosed by a surface is given by the
charge density divided by
( Gauss’ law for electric fields)

Gauss’s law for magnetic fields

Divergence of the magnetic field is uniformly zero.

( Gauss’ law for magnetic fields)
This implies the absence of magnetic monopoles.

Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction

The curl of the electric field is equal to the rate of change of the magnetic field which is the
standard Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction.

Ampere - Maxwell circuital law (Ampere’s law modified by Maxwell )

The curl of the magnetic field is given by the current density through the closed loop and the
displacement current

This equation is an extension of the Ampere’s law. The second term represents the concept of
displacement current associated with time varying electric fields which is Maxwell’s contribution.

Maxwell’s equations in free space

In the case of free space (which does not have sources of charges and currents) then the
Maxwell’s equations reduce to

…..……………………………………… (1)
…………………………………………. (2)

…………………………………………. (3)

…………………………………………. (4)
Taking the curl of curl of the electric field the equation can be written as

this reduces to

4 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

Since this reduces to

Substituting for curl of B the above equation simplifies to .

But is the general form of a wave equation. Maxwell observed

and the equation reduces to concluded that the wave equation should be an electric field in

free space travelling at the speed of light

In a very similar way, starting from the curl of the curl of the magnetic field the analysis yields

. This describes a transverse magnetic field vector travelling at the speed of

light.

The electric and magnetic waves must therefore be representing light and hence Maxwell
proposed that light could be treated as electromagnetic waves, where the electric and magnetic
vectors are mutually perpendicular and perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the
radiation.

Consider a 1D electric wave Ex associated with radiation propagating in the Z direction which
can be represented as

This implies that the electric field vector has only an x component and
the other two components Ey and Ez are zero.

Hence the associated magnetic component of the EM wave can be evaluated using the
Maxwell’s third equation namely

Evaluating the curl of the electric field

this implies that

Integrating the above equation with respect to time t we get

since is the velocity of the radiations. We note that the magnetic component of the
EM wave has only the Y component and the magnitude of the wave is times the magnitude of
the electric component of the wave.

Thus, we conclude that the EM waves have coupled electric and magnetic field components
which are mutually perpendicular to each other and both are perpendicular to the direction of
propagation of radiation.

5 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

Energy of EM waves

Classically the energy of waves is equivalent to its intensity which

is square of the amplitude of the waves.

The energy associated with an Electric field per unit volume of

free space is where E is the electric field.

The energy content of the electric component of the wave

The energy content of the magnetic component of the wave

Hence the total energy content of the wave is the sum of the two components .
Poynting Vector
E
EM waves carry energy in the direction perpendicular to the E and
B field variations and is described by the Poynting vector B

c
Ex is however a time varying component and hence to determine the average energy of the
wave transmitted per unit time through unit area can be found out as

This implies that the average energy content of EM waves to be proportional to the square of
the amplitude of the electric or magnetic vector and is independent of the frequency of the
waves. Thus, the classical picture of the EM waves as carriers of energy gives a picture of
frequency independence. For this reason, some of the observed phenomena of interaction of
light with matter could not be consistently explained in spite of the fact that all other observed
phenomena of radiation could be explained by the Maxwell’s EM wave theory.

Polarization states of EM waves

Light is a transverse electromagnetic wave, but natural light is

generally unpolarized, all planes of propagation being equally
probable.

Light in the form of a plane wave in space is said to be linearly polarized. The addition
of a horizontally linearly polarized wave and a vertically polarized wave of the same
amplitude in the same phase result in a linearly polarized at a 45o angle

If an electromagnetic wave is the result of the superposition of two plane waves of equal
amplitude but differing in phase by 90°, then the light is said to be circularly polarized.

If two plane waves of differing amplitude are related in phase by 90°, or if the relative
phase is other than 90° then the light is said to be elliptically polarized.

6 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

2. Black body radiation in equilibrium

Classically the interaction of radiation with matter with radiation is manifested in the way materials
absorb radiations, emitted characteristic wavelengths which gives the color of the material.

Gustav Robert Kirchhoff studied the absorption properties of materials and found
materials which absorb all incident rays. If such a material is heated, then it would
emit all wavelengths of radiation as it absorbed. Such a material is defined as a
black body.

A black body is also modeled as a cavity which does not allow any incident radiation to escape due
to multiple reflections inside the cavity. This cavity when
heated radiates emit radiation of every possible frequency at
a rate which increases with temperature of the body. The
amount of radiant energy does not increase monotonically
with time but is limited by the rate at which the radiation is
also absorbed by the cavity. The amount of energy emitted
at a frequency is limited by the thermodynamic equilibrium of
the absorption and emission processes. It was also observed
that the radiation density in an equilibrium state depends only
on the temperature of the walls of the cavity and does not
depend on the material or structure of the wall. The
distribution as well as the characteristic maximum wavelength shifts to the
lower wavelength side.

The emission from the blackbody at different temperatures can be modeled a

as due to emissions from harmonic oscillators on the surface of the walls of
the cavity. Due to physical dimension of the cavity being large and
the number of harmonic oscillators on the surface of the cavity is
also large, a large range of wavelengths can be emitted. The
emission from the cavity is limited to those radiations which can form
standing waves in the cavity. Consider a cubical cavity of side a. The
wavelengths of the oscillations that can resonate in the cavity has to
satisfy the condition .

Or the frequencies that can sustain in the cavity is given by

The additional no. of frequencies when n changes to dn is

In a three-dimensional cavity the number of frequency states that can

resonate in the cavity is estimated as where

is the radius of a surface in n space for allowed values of nx , ny and nz. This
surface is an octant of a sphere of radius r. The volume of this octant is a measure of the number
of frequency states in the cavity up to the allowed nx , ny and nz

The additional no. of frequencies when r changes to dr is

7 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

The energy density of radiations can be estimated if the number oscillators and their average
energy can be estimated. In the case of a cavity of volume V we can estimate the number of
oscillators with frequencies between as .

Thus the density of frequency states (number of states per unit volume) with frequencies between
as

The Boltzmann distribution function describing the probability of a large number of oscillators with

energy E in thermal equilibrium at temperature T is given by .

Rayleigh and Jeans estimated the average energy of the oscillators using the Boltzmann
distribution function as

This integral for E varying from 0 to infinity gives the equi-partition of energy .

Thus, the energy density (energy per unit volume) of radiations with frequencies between
can be estimated as

This predicts that the intensity of radiations of a given frequency should increase as and at very
high frequencies the intensities must be infinite at any temperature T. This is the Rayleigh Jeans
law which is in contradiction with the experimental observations and termed as the ultraviolet
catastrophe.

A solution to this problem was provided by Max Planck in 1900 when he proposed that the energy
of the harmonic oscillator are restricted to multiples of the fundamental natural frequency times
a constant ) ie., . Thus, the radiations are from a collection of harmonic
oscillators of different frequencies and the energy of the radiations from the oscillators has to be
packets of . Hence the average energy has to determine as a summation of the probabilities of

the energy of the individual oscillators to the total probability as

With this concept of energy of the radiations the average energy of the oscillators can be evaluated
as and the energy density of radiations can be evaluated as

The decrease in the intensity at higher frequencies (smaller wavelengths) can be attributed to the
fact that the excitation of the oscillators to the higher energy states is less probable at lower
temperatures. At higher temperatures, the thermal energy enables oscillations at higher
frequency . This expression gives excellent co-relation with experimental results which was a
milestone. At very low frequencies this expression reduces to the Rayleigh Jeans expression.

Thus, Max Planck had unknowingly laid the foundation for quantization of energy states of a
system though not in the currently understood terminologies.

8 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

Atomic Spectra

Atoms of different elements have distinct spectra Photo electric effect – an experiment in which radiation
(electromagnetic waves) interact with matter where
and therefore atomic spectroscopy allows for the emission of electron from the metal when radiation of
identification and quantization of a sample's wavelengths lesser than a cutoff wavelength. The
electron emission was instantaneous and the kinetic
elemental composition. energy of the emitted electrons depended only on the
wavelength of the incident radiation and not on the
Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff discovered intensity.
new elements by observing their emission
These results could not be explained on the basis of the
spectra. Atomic absorption lines are observed in classical EM wave theory. The classical theory
the solar spectrum and referred to as Fraunhofer suggests that electrons accumulate of energy from the
lines after their discoverer. The existence of incident waves on continuous irradiation and when the
energy of the electrons is more than the work function
discrete line emission spectra or the absence of of the material it is emitted from the metal after a
discrete lines in an absorption spectrum puzzled delayed time. According to the classical theory the
kinetic energy of the electrons emitted should be
scientists since the atomic model had not evolved dependent on the intensity of the radiation and
at the time of these observations. independent of the wavelength. All these explanations
were in contradiction to the experimental results.
Classical physics tried to model the emission from
Einstein explained the effect considering light to
atoms as that due to the orbiting electron, since behave as particles called Photons and the interaction
an accelerated charge should emit of the photons with the electrons in the metal can result
electromagnetic radiation --- light. However in transfer of energy to the electron. If the energy
according to this model, the electron should be gained by the electron is greater than the work function
continually losing energy and fall into the atom in of the metal, then the electron can be emitted and the
kinetic energy of the photo electron would depend on
an extremely small time interval. the energy of the incident photon. This was a classic
example of radiation displaying a particle nature when
(The explanation of the line spectrum of atoms in the interaction is at atomic / sub atomic particles.
terms of transition between energy states of an
atom evolved after the quantum model of the
atom evolved.)

Dual nature of radiation

Radiation is part of the electromagnetic spectrum and can be described as electromagnetic waves.
Electromagnetic waves are construed as mutually perpendicular sinusoidal electric and magnetic
fields and perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the waves. The classical concept
assumed that the energy content of the wave is proportional to the square of the amplitude of the
waves. The wavelength (and hence the frequency) are not of any consequence with regard to the
energy of the wave. Conventional wave theory of radiation explains the phenomena of reflection,
refraction, interference, diffraction and polarization of light. Interference and diffraction though
stand out as an exclusive wave property.

The Photo electric effect was explained by Einstein as a particle - particle interaction. This paved
the wave for the concept of the dual nature of radiations. The particle nature of radiations could be
evident when radiation interacted with matter at the atomic / subatomic level.

Compton effect :

Arthur H Compton while studying the scattering of X rays

by materials observed that in addition to the emission of an
electron, the scattered beam has a different wavelength as
compared to the incident wavelength.

The scattering of X rays (the high energy end of the

electromagnetic spectrum) if treated classically would not
explain the origin of X rays of higher wavelength.

9 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

Compton treated the problem as a particle - particle collision in which photons of momentum
are scattered with an electron at rest. This results in a transfer of momentum and energy
to the electron which is scattered. The photon loses energy and momentum which results in a gain
in momentum and energy for the electrons. The scattered X-ray photon has reduced energy which
results in an increase in the wavelength.

The analysis of the conservation of energy and momentum conservation before and after the
collision (taking into consideration the relativistic effects for the energy and momentum of the
electron) gives the increase in the wavelength of the scattered photon.

If is the wavelength of the incident X-ray photon, the momentum of the photon is and the
energy of the photon is . Since the electron is at rest
the initial momentum of the electron is zero and the energy Relativistic concepts of energy and
of the electron is the rest mass energy moc2. momentum of particles
Einstein’s concepts of relativistic
After the collision, the wavelength of the scattered X ray is particles (particles moving with
and the momentum . The energy of the scattered speeds comparable to the speed of
light) are
X ray is .  A particle it at rest it has a rest
2
mass energy given by E= moc .
The momentum of the scattered electron is and the  A particle moving with a velocity
v will have a mass given by
energy is
The energy conservation equation is
 If p is the momentum of the
particle then the kinetic energy
of the particle is given by pc
From this expression we get  The total energy of the particle
…(i) is given by

Since the X ray and the electron are scattered in different

directions, the momentum conservation equation has to be treated as conservation of the
momentum of the particles before and after collisions in the direction of incidence and in a
perpendicular direction.
Momentum conservation along the incident direction is .
Hence ..(ii)
Momentum conservation in a perpendicular direction is
Or …(iii)
Squaring and adding equation (ii) and (iii) we
…(iv)
Comparing equations (i) and (iv) we obtain which can be
simplified to

The change is the wavelength is known as the Compton Shift.

It is obvious that the Compton shift is

 independent of the incident wavelength of X rays

 independent of the type of the scattering material
 depends only on the angle of scattering of the X rays

The term is termed as the Compton wavelength and is a constant =2.42 x 10-12 m.

10 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

At θ=0o we notice there is no shift in the wavelength or there is

no interaction of the X rays with the electrons.

At θ=90o the shift

At θ=180o the collision is a head on collision and the shift in the

wavelength is maximum . Thus we conclude that
maximum momentum and hence energy transfer happens
when the incident X ray is back scattered.

At other angles the predicted shift were in agreement with the

experimental observations.

Thus, the Compton Effect was another instance of the particle

nature of radiation.

The two experiments of interaction of radiation with matter at sub atomic levels (Photo electric
effect and the Compton effect) led to the conclusion that radiation exhibit a dual nature - show the
normal wave characteristics and a particle at times of interaction of radiation with matter.

Dual nature of matter

Louis de Broglie (analyzing the results of the dual nature of radiation) put forward the hypothesis
that matter (form of energy) when in motion can display wave characteristics and the wavelength
associated with the moving particle where mv is the momentum of the particle.

Common heavier particles have a wavelength that is beyond the measurement capabilities with the
best of techniques available. For example, the wavelength of a carbon atom moving with a
velocity of 100m per second could possess a wavelength of the order of 10-10m. This has to be
measured with an experiment characteristic of waves such as diffraction or interference.

The wavelength of the associated waves has to be in the measurable range of an interference or
diffraction experiment to prove the existence of matter waves.

This concept was experimentally verified by Davisson and Germer who observed unusual
scattering characteristics for electrons scattered by a Ni crystal when the accelerating potential of
the electrons was 54V and angle of scattering 50o.

The de Broglie wavelength of electrons accelerated by 54V can be estimated to be 1.67 x 10 -10m.
If the electron wave possesses such a wavelength, it should be possible to diffract the waves with
a known crystal.

If the scattering has to be explained as a diffraction phenomenon (characteristics of waves)

following Bragg’s law, then where d in the interplanar distance of the Ni crystal, the
glancing angle (angle between the incident ray and the surface of the crystal) and is the
wavelength of the “waves”.

This yields a wavelength which is close to the value obtained using de Broglie’s hypothesis (matter
waves). Since diffraction is characteristic of waves, it was concluded that electrons undergo
diffraction under the set experimental conditions.

Thus, it is concluded that matter display dual characteristics at appropriate conditions of

interaction. This concept has been further confirmed by diffraction experiments using heavier
particles such as the slow neutrons from a nuclear reactor.

Hitachi in the 1980s showed the diffraction of electrons when scattered by a thin wire. It was
observed that the electrons scattering patterns are very close to a diffraction pattern produced by
a double slit experiment.

11 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

Young’s double slit experiment with particles

A double slit experiment with particles incident on the slits

one at a time reveal some interesting outcomes. Experiments
show that electrons (or photons) as particles are expected to
arrive at some definite location on a screen, unlike a wave.
But if a second electron (or photons) is incident at the slit, the
second electron reaches a different location, often far outside
any experimental uncertainty. If many electrons (or photons)
are incident on the slit but one at a time then the
measurements will display a statistical distribution of
locations that appears like an interference pattern.

The building up of the diffraction pattern of electrons

scattered from a crystal surface. Each electron arrives
at a definite location, which cannot be precisely
predicted. The overall distribution shown at the bottom
can be predicted as the diffraction of waves having the
de Broglie wavelength of the electrons.

This experiment leads to concept of probabilities that

are inherent in quantum mechanical systems. A
quantum particle exhibits probabilistic behavior when there is no effort to detect the particle.

Wave packets

The concept of matter waves requires a wave like (mathematical) representation of the moving
particle where position and momentum of the particle can be estimated with reasonable accuracy.
Sinusoidal representations result in a gross uncertainty in the position while providing a highly
accurate estimation of the momentum.

The superposition of two waves of very close + =

frequency and propagation constant results in a wave
packet, frequency and propagation
constant . Let y1 be a sinusoidal wave with
angular frequency ω and propagation constant k and y2 be a wave with frequency and
propagation constant k+Δk.

and

The superposition of the two waves gives a resultant

The first part is the original high frequency component and the second term is a low frequency
component. This is the case of an amplitude modulated wave where the amplitude of the high
frequency component is modulated according to the amplitude of the low frequency component.
Since this is the resultant of a group of super imposed waves, it is referred to as a wave packet.

The momentum of the particle could be evaluated with the estimation of the wavelength of the
waves in the wave packet. The position of the particle could be inferred from the region in which
the amplitude (and hence the intensity) of the wave is a maximum.

12 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

This gives a reasonably accurate value of both momentum and position. The momentum is derived
from the wavelength of the high frequency component and the position from the region of
maximum amplitude of the wave packet.

We can define both a phase and group velocity for the wave packet.

The phase velocity of the waves is defined as the velocity of an arbitrary point marked on the wave
(the high frequency component) as the wave propagates and is given be

The velocity of the wave packet (wave group) is defined as the group velocity and given by

Relation between group velocity and particle velocity

Group velocity of waves =

The angular frequency where E is the energy of the wave and hence
The wave vector where p is the momentum and hence
Therefore, the group velocity

Since the group velocity where v is the particle velocity.

Relation between group velocity and phase velocity

The group velocity of the particle is given by

However, .

And hence

In a dispersive medium (where the velocity of the waves depends on the wavelength) the group
velocity is given by the above equation.

When the group velocity of the wave packet is equal to the phase velocity the medium in which the
wave propagate is a non-dispersive medium. In this case or the phase velocity is a
constant with respect to wavelength.

Evaluate the condition under which the group velocity of a wave packet is

i) Half the phase velocity and ii) twice the phase velocity

The group velocity of a wave packet is given by

Case 1.

This on integration yields or

This implies that the phase velocity is proportional to the square root of the wavelength

Case 2.

This on integration yields or

13 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

This implies that the phase velocity is inversely proportional to the wavelength.

Uncertainty principle

Heisenberg’s analysis of the wave packet

revealed the spread in the estimation of the
position and the spread in the propagation
constant of the wave is intrinsically related.
A Fourier transform of the wave functions
gives the distribution of the propagation
constant. In summary he product of the
standard deviations in the estimates of the
position and the propagation constant was
shown to be greater than or at the most equal to .
This then translates to the standard form of the uncertainty principle when the propagation
constant is transformed to the momentum through the relation

The position and momentum of a particle cannot be

determined simultaneously with unlimited precision. If one of
the parameters is determined with high precision then the
other must necessarily be imprecise, such that the product of
The more precisely
the uncertainties is greater than or equal to ie.,
the position is determined, the
less precisely the momentum is
where is the uncertainty in the position and is the known in this instant, and vice
uncertainty in the momentum determined simultaneously. versa.
Heisenberg, uncertainty paper,
The uncertainty relation for energy E and time t for a physical 1927
system can be written as

Where is the uncertainty in the energy E of a system and is the uncertainty in the time in
which this energy is estimated.

In the case of rotational motion, the uncertainty relation between the angular position θ and the
angular momentum L can be written as

where is the uncertainty in the angular position and is the uncertainty in the angular
momentum determined simultaneously.

Heisenberg’s Gamma ray microscope:

Heisenberg proposed the gamma ray microscope (as a thought experiment

to illustrate the uncertainty principle) to locate the position of an electron. To
be able to “observe” the electron, it should be “illuminated” by a radiation
whose wavelength is comparable to the size of the scattering object. Hence
it is evident that one should use rays to observe electrons, which in turn
scatter the radiation onto the objective lens of the microscope. In order that
we “see” the electron, the limit of resolution of the microscope should be
comparable to the position uncertainty .

Thus, we get .

However, when the high energy rays can impart momentum to the electrons (following the
principles of Compton Effect).

14 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

The maximum momentum imparted to the electron can be estimated from the maximum shift in the
scattered photon momentum. If the momentum of the photons entering the microscope at a half
cone angle is then the maximum momentum gained by the electron in the x direction would be

Thus, the minimum momentum of the electron would be uncertain by a factor

Thus the product of the uncertainties conforms to the

uncertainty principle.
This illustrates that in the simultaneous determination of the position and momentum of an electron
results in an inherent uncertainty.
Electron’s existence inside the nucleus
The uncertainty principle can be used to illustrate the impossibilities in physical systems or the
correctness of assumptions. Beta particle emission from radioactive nuclei is one such example.
Experiments show that the beta emission is the emission of an electron with a high energy of about
4MeV by radioactive nuclei. If we assume the electron to be an integral part of the nucleus then
we may be able to estimate the minimum energy of the electron using the uncertainty principle.

If the electron is part of the nuclei, then the position of the electron is uncertain to the extent of the
nuclear diameter. The uncertainty in the position of the electron

The minimum uncertainty in the momentum of the electron then can be estimated as

Hence the minimum momentum of the electron p has to be at least the uncertainty and hence

The kinetic energy of the electron

This implies that the energy of the electron emitted by the radioactive nuclei should be quite high if
electron had to be integral member of the nuclei. Since the energies of the electron emitted by
radioactive nuclei are very less compared to the estimate, we conclude that the electron cannot be
a permanent part of the nuclei, thus illustrating the power of the uncertainty principle.

Wave functions

A moving particle can be represented by a wave packet. The wave packet can be
described by a function which is referred to as the wave function or the
state function.. The function though contains information about the physical state
of the system, has no other physical interpretation. However, since the amplitude
of the wave gives information on the probable position of the particle, can be
termed as the probability amplitude.

The functions should have the following characteristics if it has to be representing a moving
particle.

(1)  must be finite, continuous and single valued in the regions of interest.

Since is a probability amplitude (as discussed in the definition of a wave packet)

it is necessary that the function is finite and highly localized. The value of the function
could change with the position of the particle but has to remain finite and continuous (as is
obvious from the fact it is representing a wave packet). Since the physical parameters of
the system are single valued the wave function has also to be single valued.

15 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

(2) The derivatives of the wave function must be finite, continuous and single valued in the regions
of interest.

Since the wave function is a continuous function, the derivatives of the function with respect
to the variables must exist. For example is the function is a plane wave given by
then the derivative of the function is . It is obvious that the
derivative of the function would inherit the properties of the wave function, and hence it has
to be finite continuous and single valued.

(3) The wave function  must be normalizable. i.e.  

The wave function is a probability amplitude and the intensity of the wave (the
point at which the energy of the wave is likely to be concentrated) is the square of the
probability amplitude. Since the wave function can be a real or imaginary function it is
evident that the square of the wave function . is the complex conjugate of
the wave function. Thus, the product is representative of the intensity of the wave or the
probability of finding the particle at any point in the wave packet and is called the
probability density. Thus, the summation of all the for the extend of the wave
packet should give the total probability of finding the particle. Thus . Since the
wave function is a continuous function it can be written as

Since the wave function is highly localized this implies that the wave function
vanish at large values of x, i.e. .

Hence the integral evaluated over all of space . This is called as the
normalization of the wave function. In effect the amplitude of the wave is normalized to
ensure that the total probability of finding the particle is always equal to one.

The wave function satisfying the above conditions are called as well-behaved functions and can
be used to represent the physical state of a system in quantum mechanics.

Linear superposition of wave functions

The classical Young’s double slit experiment with
light waves demonstrates the diffraction of light.
The experiment conceived photons passing
through two closely space slits diffract and forms
an interference pattern at the screen.

The experiment can be repeated with single

photon emitted one at a time allowed to be incident
on the slit with no particular alignment. The photon
decides to enter either slit 1 or slit 2. The state of
the photon entering slit 1 is described by the wave
function and represents the wavefunction of
the photons passing through slit 2. When slit 2 is
closed and slit 1 is opened all photons preferentially
go thru slit 1 and the intensity pattern of the photons
on the screen will be given by [Link] when slit
1 is closed and slit 2 is opened all photons
preferentially go thru slit 2 and the intensity pattern
of the photons on the screen will be given by P2. However, when both the slits are opened the
intensity pattern do not add up. The resultant is an interference pattern which can be described as
the superposition of the two photon states given by .

16 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

If the photon beam is replaced by an electron bean then it is interesting to note that the electrons
going through the slit behaves as waves and form an interference pattern on the screen.

This clearly demonstrates the wave behavior of electrons. If represents the electrons passing
through slit 1 and represents the electrons passing through slit 2, then the probability densities
.

It is obvious that represents the super imposition of the two states or super
position of the two wave functions. Thus, the probability density of the new states should be given
by

and is not equal to .

Thus, we observe that the superposition of the

two states yield a new state.
Schrödinger's cat: a
In general if and are two wave functions of cat, a flask of poison, and a radioactive source are
a system then the linear superposition of the two placed in a sealed box. If an internal monitor (e.g.
states is also a possible quantum state Geiger counter) detects radioactivity (i.e. a single
atom decaying), the flask is shattered, releasing the
poison, which kills the cat. The Copenhagen
Another interesting observation is that any interpretation of quantum mechanics implies that
attempt to observe the events of which or how after a while, the cat is simultaneously alive and
dead. Yet, when one looks in the box, one sees the
many electrons pass through each slit with a
cat either alive or dead not both alive and dead. This
detector, the interference pattern is not observed
poses the question of when exactly quantum
and the intensity of is a algebraic addition of the
superposition ends and reality collapses into one
two intensities from the two slits. Thus, the
possibility or the other.
superposed wave function is non-existent
and the wave function is said to have collapsed.

Thus, quantum systems are not subjected to observations, since the observations interfere with
the quantum behavior of the particles being studied. This is the classic Schrodinger’s cat paradox.

Observables,

The physical parameters associated with the particle such as energy, momentum, kinetic energy,
spin, etc. are observables of the state of a system. Experimental results can give us values of
observables, and multiple measurements on the system at the same state should result in the
same value or average values for the observables, if the state of the system is not modified by the
measurement. Observables have real values and their accurate measurements would be limited
by the principles of uncertainty.

The wave function carries information about the state of the system, or the observables can be
extracted from the wave functions with the help of appropriate operators.

Operators

The wave function describing a system in one dimension can be written as .

This function contains information about the observables of the system. The values of the
observables can be inferred using a mathematical operator operating on the wave function.

Differentiating with respect to position yields

Or the operation yields the momentum of the system.

is the momentum operator.

17 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

Differentiating the above yields

Rearranging the terms and dividing by 2m we get

Thus, the operation } on yields the kinetic energy.

is the kinetic energy operator

Differentiating with respect to time yields

Or the operation yields the total energy of the system

is the total energy operator.

The position operator is equivalent to multiplying the wave function by x itself .

The potential energy operator is not explicitly defined as the potential can be inferred if the total
energy and the kinetic energy of the system is known.

Expectation values:

Quantum mechanics deals with probabilities and hence predicts only the most probable values of
the observables of a physical system which are called the expectation values. These expectation
values could be the average of repeated measurements on the system. The method of evaluating
the expectation values is outlined as below.

Let be an operator that gives the value of the momentum p when it operates on the wave
function

The operation where p is the value of the observable extracted from .

The many values of p extracted from the wave function can be averaged over the extend of the
wave packet.

The same can be obtained by integrating the expression over the range and dividing it by
the total probability

where is the most probable value of the momentum.

Thus the expectation value of the momentum is written as .

If the integral is over all of space then the integrals could be evaluated between limits of . In
this case it is observed that the denominator would be the total probability and can be written as 1.
However, it is customary to write the expectation values in the standard form.

In the general case for an operator when and hence the expectation value of the parameter
can be written as .

Schrodinger’s Wave equation

The moving particle is described by a wave function and there is a need to have a wave equation
which can describe this moving particle. Schrodinger’s approach to describe the motion in terms of
a differential equation is one of the most popular methods. (Dirac’s operator mechanics with vector
spaces is another method of describing the moving particle and is a computational friendly
method.)

18 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

The one dimensional time dependent Schrodinger’s wave equation

The most general method of describing a system involves evaluating the system in terms of the
state variables of position and time.
The total energy of a system is equal to the sum of kinetic energy and potential energy (which are
observables of the system)
The energy expression can be written as E = KE + V
Multiplying throughout with the wave function we get
……… (1)
This equation can be written in terms of the corresponding operators as

which is an eigen value equation for the total energy of the system.

The total energy operator is , the kinetic energy operator is }.

Replacing the total energy and the kinetic energy terms with the respective operators we can
rewrite the expression (1) as

or
….(2)
which is the Schrödinger’s time dependent
wave function since is a function of
both position and time.
The solution of the differential equation
yields the wave function which is the state
function of the system.
The one dimensional time independent Schrodinger’s wave equation
Generally any system in the steady state is time invariant and hence the wave function could be
independent of time. In such a case we can write the wave function can be written as the product
of two functions one that is position dependent and the other time dependent.

Ie.,

where is the position dependent part and is the time dependent

part.
Substituting in equation (2) we get

The total energy E of the steady state system being a constant, the total energy operator can be
replaced by the value E with no loss of sense.

The above equation can be written as

We recognize that the product of two functions is zero and since

………………….(3)

19 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

This is the Schrödinger’s time independent one dimensional wave equation. The solutions of the
Schrodinger’s wave equation yield the wave function which describes the physical state of
the system.
The solution so obtained has to be checked for continuities at any boundaries and normalized to
get the exact wave function of the system.
In general the Hamiltonian form of this equation is written as

Where the Hamiltonian operator –

[Three dimensional Schrodinger’s wave equation.

The Schrodinger’s wave equation for a 3D can be evolved by looking at the problem as three one
dimensional problem in the independent variables x,y and z. The wave function of such a system
can be written as
where are the three mutually independent
wave functions of the particles in the orthogonal co-ordinate system.
The derivatives of the wave function can be written as partial derivatives of the wave function.
The SWE then can be written as

which can be simplified as

Where is the Laplacian operator defined as

[Linear superposition of wave functions from SWE.

The wave function which is the solution of the differential equation

is a state function. Since a system could have multiple states the solution of the wave
equation can give us multiple . If represents a state 1 andf
represents a state 2 of the system then it can be seen that a linear combination of and
is also a solution of the SWE. Thus +m will also be a solution of
the SWE. It is obvious that the superposition of two waves is a wave packet and can represent the
state of a system.
It is also evident that the probability densities however do not add to give the probability density of
the new state and has to be estimated from the new wave function ]

Template for solving problems in quantum mechanics using the Schrödinger’s wave
equation

The Schrodinger’s wave equation can be applied to any physical system and the solution of the
wave equation yields the wave function of the system. The wave function is probability amplitude
and contains information about the physical state (observables of the system). The wave function
has to be a well behaved wave function to represent a moving particle.

The template for solving the Schrodinger’s wave equation is:

20 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

1. Define / set up the physical system (define particle nature, boundaries of potential, total
energy of the particle etc)
2. Write the Schrodinger’s wave equation and apply the known conditions
3. Obtain the general form of the wave function
4. Check / verify the wave function for it’s characteristics
 finiteness, discreteness and continuity of ,
 normalization of the wave functions
5. Interpret the solution and get the implications on the quantum system.

Problem no 1. Free Particle solution

A particle is said to be a free particle when it experiences no external forces.

Thus the force given by . This implies that either V is zero or V is a constant.

The simplest case then could be when the particle is moving in a region of zero potential i.e., V=0.

The Schrödinger’s time independent one dimensional wave equation for the system simplifies to

or

where is the propagation constant.

The solution of this differential equation is where A and B are constants

which can be real or imaginary.

As a general concept the first part describes a forward moving wave packet (in increasing x
direction) and the second part describes a backward moving wave packet (decreasing x direction)

The energy of the particle is given by .

Since the free particle is moving in a zero potential region and there is no restriction on wave
number or the energy of the particle, we conclude that the total energy of the particle is kinetic in
nature with no implications of quantization.

This could the quantum description of a classical free particle.

21 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

Some typical solved Numericals

1. Estimate the Compton shift for X rays scattered at 95o with respect to the incident direction. If the
momentum of the scattered X rays is 4.5x10 -24 kg m s-1 estimate the wavelength of the incident X
Rays.

The Compton shift is given by .

At 95o the shift is

Wavelength of the scattered X ray is

Wavelength of the incident X ray is

2. In a Compton scattering of electrons with X rays discuss the condition under which the energy gained
by the electron is maximum. If the wavelength of the incident X ray is 0.1nm calculate the maximum
energy gained by the electron.
In Compton effect the maximum shift in the wavelength of the scattered X ray is when the angle of
scattering is 180o. At this angle there is a head on collision with the electron and the electron
moves along the incident direction. The momentum and hence the energy transfer are maximum
under this condition.
The maximum momentum transfer is the maximum momentum loss of the X ray
= = 3.07 x10-25 Kg m s-1.
The maximum energy transfer is the maximum energy loss of the X ray
= = 575.16eV
3. Estimate the energy of a non-relativistic electron if it to confined in a region of width 10-14 m and
calculate the de Broglie wavelength of the electron with this energy. Comment on the results
obtained.

The position of the electron is uncertain to the extent of 10-14 m.

The minimum uncertainty in the momentum =p

The kinetic energy of the electron

.
The de Broglie wavelength > the width of the region, which implies the electron cannot be confined
in this interval.
4. Find the spread in the wavelength of a photon whose lifetime in the excited state is uncertain to 10-
10
s if the wavelength of emission is 541nm.

The uncertainty relation for energy E and time t for a physical system can be written as
where is the uncertainty in the energy E of a system and is the uncertainty in
the time in which this energy is estimated.

22 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

Numericals

1. The energy lost by an incident X ray photon in a Compton Effect is 1.064 x J. If the
wavelength of the incident wavelength is 1.5 x find the angle of the scattered X ray
photon.
2. The shift in the wavelength of a X ray scattered by an electron is 2.42pm. Find the direction
and magnitude of the momentum of the scattered electron.
3. Find the de Broglie wavelength of electrons moving with a speed of 107 m/s (Ans 7.28 x 10-11
m)

4. Compare the momenta and energy of an electron and photon whose de Broglie wavelength
is 650nm (Ans Ratio of momenta =1; ratio of energy of electron to energy of photon =
)

5. Calculate the de Broglie wavelength of electrons and protons if their kinetic energies are
i) 1% and ii) 5% of their rest mass energies. (Ans Rest mass energy of electron = 8.19x 10-14 J;
-10
rest mass energy of protons = 1.503 x 10 J. The de Broglie wavelength Electron 1%
Electron 5% Proton 1% Proton 5%
)

6. An electron and a photon have a wavelength of 2.0 A. Calculate their momenta and total
energies.
7. What is the wavelength of an hydrogen atom moving with a mean velocity corresponding to
the average kinetic energy of hydrogen atoms under thermal equilibrium at 293K?

8. The frequency of Surface tension waves in shallow water is given by ν= (2πT/ρλ3)½, where
T is the surface tension, ρ is the density of the medium and λ the wavelength of the waves.
Find the group velocity of the waves.
9. The relation between the wavelength λ and frequency ν of electromagnetic waves in a
wave guide is given by λ=c/√(ν2 - νo2). Find the group velocity of the waves.
10. The speed of an electron is measured to be 1 km/s with an accuracy of 0.005%. Estimate
the uncertainty in the position of the particle.
11. The spectral line of Hg green is 546.1 nm has a width of 10-5 nm. Evaluate the minimum
time spent by the electrons in the upper state before de excitation to the lower state .
(Ans: )
12. The uncertainty in the location of a particle is equal to its de Broglie wavelength. Show that
the corresponding uncertainty in its velocity is approx. one tenth of its velocity. (Ans:
Hence )

13. Determine the maximum wavelength shift in the Compton scattering of photons from
protons.
(Ans = 2.64×10−5 Å)

14. Show that for a free particle the uncertainty relation can also be written as
where Δx is the uncertainty in location of the wave and Δλ the simultaneous uncertainty
in wavelength.

15. Discuss the following functions to be taken as acceptable wave functions:

i: ii: iii: iv:

23 Physics Department PESU

 Unit I: Review of concepts leading to 2023
Quantum Mechanics

16. A wave function is given by in the region . Find the normalization

constant N.
17. Find the expectation values of position and momentum for the wave function defined by
in the region

18. Find the normalisation constant B for the wave function (

Ans

24 Physics Department PESU