PHYS 3313 – Section 001

Lecture #16
Monday, Mar. 24, 2014
Dr. Jaehoon Yu
• De Broglie Waves
• Bohr’s Quantization Conditions
• Electron Scattering
• Wave Packets and Packet Envelops
• Superposition of Waves
• Electron Double Slit Experiment
• Wave-Particle Duality
Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 1
Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Announcements
• Research paper template has been uploaded onto
the class web page link to research
• Special colloquium on April 2, triple extra credit
• Colloquium this Wednesday at 4pm in SH101

Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 2

Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 De Broglie Waves
• Prince Louis V. de Broglie suggested that mass particles
should have wave properties similar to electromagnetic
radiation è many experiments supported this!
• Thus the wavelength of a matter wave is called the de
Broglie wavelength: h
λ=
p
• This can be considered as the probing beam length scale
• Since for a photon, E = pc and E = hf, the energy can be
written as
E = hf = pc = pλ f
Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 3
Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Ex 5.2: De Broglie Wavelength
Calculate the De Broglie wavelength of (a) a tennis ball of mass 57g traveling 25m/s
(about 56mph) and (b) an electron with kinetic energy 50eV.
h
• What is the formula for De Broglie Wavelength? λ=
• (a) for a tennis ball, m=0.057kg. p
h 6.63 × 10 −34
λ= = = 4.7 × 10 −34 m
p 0.057 ⋅ 25
• (b) for electron with 50eV KE, since KE is small, we can use non-relativistic
expression of electron momentum!

h h hc 1240eV ⋅ nm
λ= = = = = 0.17nm
p 2me K 2mec 2 K 2 ⋅ 0.511MeV ⋅ 50eV
• What are the wavelengths of you running at the speed of 2m/s? What about your
car of 2 metric tons at 100mph? How about the proton with 14TeV kinetic energy?
• What is the momentum of the photon from a green laser?
Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 4
Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Bohr’s Quantization Condition
• One of Bohr’s assumptions concerning his hydrogen atom
model was that the angular momentum of the electron-nucleus
system in a stationary state is an integral multiple of h/2π.
• The electron is a standing wave in an orbit around the proton.
This standing wave will have nodes and be an integral number
of wavelengths.
h
2π r = nλ = n
p
• The angular momentum becomes:
nh h
L = rp = p= n = n
2π p 2π

Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 5

Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Electron Scattering
• Davisson and Germer experimentally observed that electrons were diffracted
much like x rays in nickel crystals. è direct proof of De Broglie wave!

D sin φ
λ=
n

• George P. Thomson (1892–1975), son of J. J. Thomson,

reported seeing the effects of electron diffraction in
transmission experiments. The first target was celluloid,
and soon after that gold, aluminum, and platinum were
used. The randomly oriented polycrystalline sample of
SnO2 produces rings as shown in the figure at right.

Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 6

Dr. Jaehoon Yu
• Photons, which we thought were waves, act particle
like (eg Photoelectric effect or Compton Scattering)
• Electrons, which we thought were particles, act
particle like (eg electron scattering)
• De Broglie: All matter has intrinsic wavelength.
– Wave length inversely proportional to momentum
– The more massive… the smaller the wavelength… the
harder to observe the wavelike properties
– So while photons appear mostly wavelike, electrons
(next lightest particle!) appear mostly particle like.
• How can we reconcile the wave/particle views?
Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 7
Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Wave Motion
n De Broglie matter waves suggest a further description.
The displacement of a wave is ⎡ 2π ⎤
Ψ ( x,t ) = Asin ⎢ ( x − vt ) ⎥
⎣ λ ⎦
n This is a solution to the wave equation
∂2 Ψ 1 ∂2 Ψ
= 2
∂x 2
v ∂t 2
n Define the wave number k and the angular frequency ω
as: 2π 2π
k≡
λ
and ω =
T
λ = vT
n The wave function is now: Ψ ( x,t ) = Asin [ kx − ω t ]

Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 8

Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Wave Properties
• The phase velocity is the velocity of a point on the
wave that has a given phase (for example, the crest)
and is given by λ λ 2π ω
v ph = = =
T 2π T k
• A phase constant φ shifts the wave:
Ψ ( x,t ) = Asin [ kx − ω t + φ. ]
= A cos [ kx − ω t ]
(When φ=π/2)

Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 9

Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Principle of Superposition
• When two or more waves traverse the same region, they act
independently of each other.
• Combining two waves yields:
⎛ Δk Δω ⎞
Ψ ( x,t ) = 1
Ψ ( x,t ) + Ψ ( x,t ) = 2A cos ⎜ x− t ⎟ cos ( kav x − ω avt )
2
⎝ 2 2 ⎠
• The combined wave oscillates within an envelope that
denotes the maximum displacement of the combined
waves.
• When combining many waves with different amplitudes and
frequencies, a pulse, or wave packet, can be formed, which
can move at a group velocity:
Δω
ugr =
Δk

Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 10

Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Fourier Series
• Adding 2 waves isn’t localized in space… but
adding lots of waves can be.
• The sum of many waves that form a wave packet is
called a Fourier series:
Ψ ( x,t ) = ∑ Ai sin [ ki x − ω i t ]
i

• Summing an infinite number of waves yields the

Fourier integral:

Ψ ( x,t ) = ∫ A ( k ) cos [ kx − ω t ]dk

Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 11
Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Wave Packet Envelope
• The superposition of two waves yields a wave number and angular
frequency of the wave packet envelope.
Δk Δω
x−
2 2
• The range of wave numbers and angular frequencies that produce the
wave packet have the following relations:
ΔkΔx = 2π ΔωΔt = 2π
• A Gaussian wave packet has similar relations:
1 1
ΔkΔx = ΔωΔt =
2 2
• The localization of the wave packet over a small region to describe a
particle requires a large range of wave numbers. Conversely, a small
range of wave numbers cannot produce a wave packet localized within
a small distance.
Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 12
Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Gaussian Function
• A Gaussian wave packet describes the envelope of a
pulse wave. Ψ ( x,0 ) = Ψ ( x ) = Ae x cos ( k x )
− Δk 2 2

dω
• The group velocity is ugr = dk
Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 13
Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Dispersion
• Considering the group velocity of a de Broglie wave packet
yields:
dE pc 2
ugr = =
dp E

• The relationship between the phase velocity and the group

velocity is dω dv ph
d
ugr =
dk
=
dk
( v k) = v
ph ph +k
dk
• Hence the group velocity may be greater or less than the
phase velocity. A medium is called nondispersive when the
phase velocity is the same for all frequencies and equal to
the group velocity.
Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 14
Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Waves or Particles?
• Young’s double-slit diffraction
experiment demonstrates the wave
property of light.
• However, dimming the light results
in single flashes on the screen
representative of particles.

Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 15

Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Electron Double-Slit Experiment
• C. Jönsson of Tübingen,
Germany, succeeded in 1961
in showing double-slit
interference effects for
electrons by constructing very
narrow slits and using
relatively large distances
between the slits and the
observation screen.
• This experiment demonstrated
that precisely the same
behavior occurs for both light
(waves) and electrons
(particles).
Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 16
Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Which slit?
• To determine which slit the electron went through: We set up a light
shining on the double slit and use a powerful microscope to look at
the region. After the electron passes through one of the slits, light
bounces off the electron; we observe the reflected light, so we know
which slit the electron came through.
• Use a subscript “ph” to denote variables for light (photon). Therefore
the momentum of the photon is
h h
Pph = >
λ ph d
h h
• The momentum of the electrons will be on the order of Pe = ~ .
λe d
• The difficulty is that the momentum of the photons used to determine
which slit the electron went through is sufficiently great to strongly
modify the momentum of the electron itself, thus changing the
direction of the electron! The attempt to identify which slit the electron
is passing through will in itself change the interference pattern.
Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 17
Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Wave particle duality solution
• The solution to the wave particle duality of an event
is given by the following principle.
• Bohr’s principle of complementarity: It is not
possible to describe physical observables
simultaneously in terms of both particles and waves.
• Physical observables are the quantities such as
position, velocity, momentum, and energy that can
be experimentally measured. In any given instance
we must use either the particle description or the
wave description.
Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 18
Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Uncertainty Principle
• It is impossible to measure simultaneously, with no
uncertainty, the precise values of k and x for the same
particle. The wave number k may be rewritten as
2π 2π 2π p
k= = =p =
λ h p h 
• For the case of a Gaussian wave packet we have
Δp 1
ΔkΔx = Δx =
 2
Thus for a single particle we have Heisenberg’s uncertainty
principle: 
Δpx Δx ≥
2
Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 19
Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Energy Uncertainty
• If we are uncertain as to the exact position of a particle, for
example an electron somewhere inside an atom, the particle
can’t have zero kinetic energy. pmin ( Δp )
2
2
2
K min = ≥ ≥
2m 2m 2ml 2
• The energy uncertainty of a Gaussian wave packet is
Δω
ΔE = hΔf = h = Δω
2π
combined with the angular frequency relation
ΔE 1
ΔωΔt = Δt =
 2
• Energy-Time Uncertainty Principle: .

ΔEΔt ≥
2
Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 20
Dr. Jaehoon Yu
Probability, Wave Functions, and the Copenhagen
Interpretation
• The wave function determines the likelihood (or probability)
of finding a particle at a particular position in space at a
given time.
P ( y ) dy = Ψ ( y,t ) dy
2

• The total probability of finding the electron is 1. Forcing this

condition on the wave function is called normalization.
+∞ +∞
∫ P ( y ) dy = ∫ Ψ ( y,t ) dy = 1
2

−∞ −∞

Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 21

Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 The Copenhagen Interpretation
• Bohr’s interpretation of the wave function consisted
of 3 principles:
• The uncertainty principle of Heisenberg
• The complementarity principle of Bohr
• The statistical interpretation of Born, based on probabilities
determined by the wave function
• Together these three concepts form a logical
interpretation of the physical meaning of quantum
theory. According to the Copenhagen interpretation,
physics depends on the outcomes of measurement.

Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 22

Dr. Jaehoon Yu
 Particle in a Box
• A particle of mass m is trapped in a one-dimensional box of width l.
• The particle is treated as a wave.
• The box puts boundary conditions on the wave. The wave function must be zero at the walls of
the box and on the outside.
• In order for the probability to vanish at the walls, we must have an integral number of half
wavelengths in the box.

• The energy of the particle is .

• The possible wavelengths are quantized which yields the energy:

• The possible energies of the particle are quantized.

Monday, Mar. 24, 2014 PHYS 3313-001, Spring 2014 23

Dr. Jaehoon Yu