W ORLD OF P HYSICS IV - Q UANTUM P HYSICS

Sourabh Dube

Tutorial 4
1. Consider a system with a wave function given by

3
2
2
(x) =
1 (x) + 2 (x) +
3 (x)
3
3
3
Here the i are orthonormal.

(1)

(a) Is normalized?
(b) Calculate the probability of finding the system in any of the states i . (Is the total
probability one?)
(c) If we consider an ensemble of 810 such systems, and we perform a measurement - how
many systems will be found in state 1 and 2
Answer:
If the i are orthonormal, we can write
Z

i j dx = ij (the Kronecker delta-function)

Let us check the normalization

!
!
Z
Z
3
2
3
2
2
2

dx =
(x) + 2 (x) +
(x)
1 (x) + 2 (x) +
3 (x) dx
3 1
3
3 3
3
3
3

4Z
2Z
1Z
1 dx +
2 dx +
3 dx
=
3 1
9 2
9 3
1 4 2
= + +
3 9 9
=1
Here we have used the orthogonality to put all the cross terms (like 1 3 ) to zero. We also
see that is normalized.
To calculate the probability, of finding the state in 1 ,

!
Z
Z
3
2
2

P1 = |
1 dx| = |
1
1 (x) + 2 (x) +
3 (x) dx|2
3
3
3

1
=
3

Similarly we can write the probabilities for the other states P2 = 4/9, and P3 = 2/9.
Now if we have an ensemble of 810 systems and we perform a measurement, we will have
810 1/3 = 270 systems in state 1 , 810 4/9 = 360 systems in state 2 .
2. Problem 2.7 from Griffiths
A particle in the infinite square well has the initial wave function
(

Ax,
0 x a/2
A(a x), a/2 x a

(x, 0) =

(a) Sketch (x, 0), and determine the constant A.

(b) Find (x, t)
Answer:

Figure 1: Figure shows the sketch of (x, 0)

1=A

Z a/2

x dx + A

Z a

(a x) dx = A

a/2

A2
=
3

"
2

a3 a3
+
8
8

x3 a/2 (a x)3 a
|
|a/2
3 0
3

A2 a3
=
12

This gives
us

3
2
A = a3 .
Now in class we saw
(x, t) =

X
n=1

cn

n2 2 h

n
2
sin
x ei 2ma2 t
a
a

(2)

We need to determine the cn . We know the solutions for the infinite square well are complete
and we can express any function f (x) as a linear combination of all of them.
f (x) =

X
n=1

Sourabh Dube - PHY202

cn n (x) =




2 X
n
cn sin
x
a n=1
a

(3)
2

Let us multiply both sides of the equation by m (x) and integrate

Z

m (x) f (x) dx =
=

X
n=1

cn

m (x) n (x) dx

cn mn

(4)
(5)

n=1

= cm

(6)

where we used the orthogonality of the solutions. This gives us

cn =

n (x) f (x) dx

(7)

Completeness of solutions also allows us to write

(x, 0) =

cn n (x)

n=1

Thus we can write

s

cn =

2Z a
n
sin
x (x, 0) dx
a 0
a


So
"



 #
Z a
n
2 2 3 Z a/2
n

(a x) sin
x sin
x dx +
x dx
aa a 0
a
a
a/2
" 



#
2 6
a 2
n
xa
n
a/2
sin
x
cos
x |0
2
a
n
a
n
a
"
!



2

 


#
a
a
n
n
ax
n
a
a
+a
cos
x |a/2
sin
x
cos
x |a/2
n
a
n
a
n
a
" 






a2
a2
a2
a 2
n
n
n
2 6
sin

cos

cos n +
cos
a2
n
2
2n
2
n
n
2

2



#
2
2
a
n
a
a
n
+
sin
+
cos n
cos
n
2
n
2n
2



2 6 a2
n
2 sin
2
a (n)
2



4 6
n
2 sin
2
(n)

cn =
=

=
=

This is 0 when n is even, and when n is odd, it is (1)(n1)/2

Sourabh Dube - PHY202

4 6
.
(n)2

This gives us the solution

s


4 6 2 X
1
n
(x, t) = 2
(1)(n1)/2 2 sin
x eEn t/h

a n=1,3,5,...
n
a
with En =

n2 2
h2
.
2ma2

3. Show that there are only trivial solutions ( = 0) to the TISE for the infinite square well
with E 0.
Answer:
From the TISE we have
d2
2mE
= 2
2
dx
h

The boundary conditions are (0) = (a) = 0.

If E = 0, then d2 /dx2 = 0, giving us (x) = A + Bx. Applying the boundary conditions
we get
(0) = A = 0 = Bx, and then
(a) = Ba = 0 = 0.
If E < 0, then

d2
2
=

,
with

2mE/
h
dx2
Then the solution is (x) = Aex + Bex . Applying the boundary conditions we get
(0) = A + B = 0 A = B, so = A(ex ex ) and
(a) = A(ea ea ) = 0 A = 0, or
ea = ea , so e2a = 1, and 2a = ln 1 = 0 = 0.
Thus either A = 0 or = 0, giving us = 0.

Sourabh Dube - PHY202